Kirk Franklin here next week

May 15, 2008

THIS is Mr Energy we are talking about. He is like a fireball when he gets onto stage. So Ugandans should expect an air-tight performance. “Kirk Franklin will keep Ugandans on their feet, while blessing their hearts with a positive message,” says Isaac Ruccibigango, aka Rucci, the concert organ

By Moses Opobo

THIS is Mr Energy we are talking about. He is like a fireball when he gets onto stage. So Ugandans should expect an air-tight performance. “Kirk Franklin will keep Ugandans on their feet, while blessing their hearts with a positive message,” says Isaac Ruccibigango, aka Rucci, the concert organiser.

The African-American gospel sensation is set for two concerts at Kampala Serena Hotel and Lugogo Cricket Oval on May 22 and 24, respectively.

Kirk Franklin’s showmanship on stage, the energy, his dynamic and electrifying personality, has helped him take his message to thousands of non-believers, making him one of the biggest cross-over gospel acts in the world.

His music has been described as “artistic and transcends genres, while making important spiritual and social statements with disarming honesty and power.” For this, comparisons to him have been drawn at local gospel artiste, George Okudi.

Rucci says: “The show is going to be the biggest production ever. We are almost through with servicing the technical riders. The visuals will be amazing. Uganda Telecom, the main sponsors, have spared no expense in making this possible.”

Rucci offers sneak peaks into the concert: “Contractually, Kirk Franklin is supposed to perform for 90 minutes. But contracts aside, Kirk is well-known for going an extra mile, depending on the mood. Judging from the love he has been shown here, do not be surprised if he goes for two or more hours. He has done it several times before.”

All proceeds from the Serena concert will go to the African Children’s Choir, who are lined up to perform as opening acts.

Kirk Franklin is renown for weaving seemingly disparate musical influences like R&B, modern rock and hip-hop into traditional gospel — achieving a seamless fabric and highly personal style and sound that transcends all boundaries of genre, race, spirituality and social background.

The consistency of his growth past the safety of the traditional gospel mould owes a lot to the conscious.

Born 38 years ago at Fort Worth, Texas, US, Kirk Franklin’s colourful discography boasts nine albums, churned out in rapid succession, since the debut, Kirk Franklin and the Family, in 1993. Some of his better-known albums include; The Nu Nation Project, released in 1998, The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin (2002) and the latest, The Fight of My Life, released early last year.

Songs that are likely to solicit encores from his fans in Uganda are Stomp and Revolution. Coming at a time when contemporary urban gospel music was undergoing a revolution of radical realism, pioneered by Franklin himself, the two songs easily stood out for the Ugandan music audience, gospel or otherwise.

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