When Kirk Franklin charmed Kampala
Oct 19, 2019
The multi-Grammy award winner, whose visit to Uganda was part of a world tour to promote his latest album, fighting for My Life.
By Joseph Batte
The American gospel musician performed in Uganda on May 22, 2008, at Kampala Serena Hotel at 7:00 pm for sh150,000 per head.
Famous for his energetic music which fuses traditional church music, urban pop and rhythm and blues (R&B), Franklin thrilled Ugandans.
GOD'S DAY: Kirk Franklin performing at Lugogo, Saturday on May 24, 2008.
The multi-Grammy award winner, whose visit to Uganda was part of a world tour to promote his latest album, fighting for My Life.
Famous for hits such as Stomp and Lean on Me, Franklin also visited the home of the African Children Choir in Entebbe.
GOD'S DAY: People at Kirk Franklin's show at Lugogo, Saturday, May 24, 2008
With over nine million records sold and five Grammy Awards under his belt, Kirk Franklin appeals to both secular and Christian audiences in equal measure. The artiste, who is certifiably one of the biggest artistes in the world, came to Uganda in 2008 to share his Holy Ghost party with Uganda.
Majorly criticised by conservative Christians for being too radical in his zeal to make contemporary Gospel music relevant to the youth, Franklin's kind of church music has helped him take the biblical message to millions of non-believers.
The renowned American Gospel artiste performed at Serena Hotel on May 9 and Lugogo Cricket Oval the following day.
Franklin has created a buzz since he emerged as Kirk Franklin and the Family in the 1990s. There first album, Kirk Franklin & the Family, catapulted him to the top of the charts. And since than, everything about him attracts attention.
According to music critic Joseph Batte, Gospel music whether it's rap, hip-hop, or that good old-fashion hand-clapping, foot-stomping, stand up in church testifying music, it all comes down to one main point "giving God the glory. That is why Franklin is the real deal.
Other than praising the Lord, Gospel music is more uplifting than the stale boy-meets-girl songs that we are accustomed to. To hear a song with a positive message is healthy and can help clean our polluted brains.
Who is Kirk Franklin?
According to Sing365.com, Franklin was born on January 26, 1970, and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, US.
As a child, he experienced both the pain and the comfort of the Lord. He never knew his father. He was abandoned in infancy by his mother and was raised by an aunt who was a strict, church-going Baptist.
The aunt saw to it that Franklin was well-versed with the Christian faith from his childhood. He not only thrived spiritually in the church but also displayed his prodigious musical gifts.
When his aunt recognised his artistic anointing, she started collecting and re-selling aluminum cans to raise money for him to take piano lessons when he was only four.
As it turned out, Franklin was a natural musician who could sight-read and play by ear equally well. At 11, he was leading the Mt. Rose Baptist Church adult choir in Fort Worth.
Guests/Believers sing during Gospel Singer, Kirk Franklin VIP show at Serena Hotel, Thursday (May 22, 2008
Despite his strong background in the church, Franklin turned rebellious in his teens. The values and morals on which he had been brought up were exchanged for a life of violence, intimidation, and stealing.
It took the shooting to death of a friend to jolt Franklin, then 15, into a realisation that the path he had chosen was not the right one. He went back into the safe fold of the church, where he began composing songs and recording demo tapes with a passion.
Gospel Singer, Babirye performing during Gospel Singer, Kirk Franklin VIP show at Serena Hotel, Thursday, May 22, 2008
Nurtured on a steady diet of traditional gospel music, Franklin had also kept an ear open to the secular R&B, rock and pop music of the 1980s, and he absorbed the best of both musical worlds.
Along with the power and passion of innumerable classic gospel artistes, he was impacted by the sounds of an eclectic, far-reaching mix of R&B/funk and rock icons, from Cameo, George Clinton and Rick James to rockers U2, INXS and Depeche Mode.
African Children Choir performing during Gospel Singer, Kirk Franklin's VIP show at Serena Hotel, Thursday, May 22, 2008
In the early 1990s, Franklin formed a 17-member vocal ensemble of neighbourhood friends and associates, dubbed The Family. He has since fronted, choir directed, written and arranged for a variety of youth-driven mini-choirs like Nu Nation, God's Property and One Nation Crew.
His life took a dramatic turn in 1992 when Vicki Mack-Lataillade, the president of the than-fledgling Gospo Centric Records, listened to one of his tapes and quickly signed him to a recording contract.
Kampala Casino boss, Bob Kabonero during Gospel Singer, Kirk Franklin VIP show at Serena Hotel, Thursday, May 22, 2008
Since then, a decade of greatest commercial successes and brilliant, groundbreaking artistry and inventiveness ever seen gospel music has followed.
In 1993, Franklin released his self-titled debut album, Kirk Franklin & The Family. Wildly accepted and embraced almost immediately by the masses, it spent 100 weeks at the top of Billboard magazineâ's gospel charts, while also crossing over to the R&B side, and becoming the first gospel album ever to sell over a million units.
Kenyan Gospel Group performing during Gospel Singer, Kirk Franklin VIP show at Serena Hotel, Thursday, May 22, 2008
It spent almost two years on the gospel charts, also charted on the R&B charts and went platinum. It stayed at No.1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart for 42 weeks.
1997 brought another album, a collaboration with God's Property aptly named God's Property. It was a huge hit, enjoying heavy rotation on MTV and other music channels, charting at No.1 on the R&B Singles Airplay chart for two weeks, and even making it to the Top 40.
Kenyan gospel group performing
Why his music appeals to Ugandans
Franklin has stepped out of the traditional Gospel box to incorporate intricate, richly-textured arrangements into his music.
His music has that rare crossover appeal because it crosses the fine line of Gospel and secular just as Limit X, Fiona Mukasa and First Love did.
Pastor Martin Sempa and wife praise the Lord during Gospel Singer, Kirk Franklin's VIP show at Serena Hotel, Thursday, May 22, 2008
For proof, look no further than the most popular song in Uganda, Stomp and his latest album The Fight of My Life that critics in America have described as an artistic success that transcends genres and makes important spiritual and social statements with disarming honesty and power.
The same goes for the horn-drenched track Jesus!, a sunny, multi-layered block party replete with a children’s choir, string and horn sections, and vocalists that sound like drill sergeants.
UTL Human Resource Manager, Sarah Kiyingi paints during Gospel Singer, Kirk Franklin's VIP show at Serena Hotel, Thursday, May 22, 2008
Although Franklin has stepped out of the traditional Gospel box, he never lets the gloss hide the humanity on this song.
He is also a live wire act on stage. His showmanship is electrifying.
Franklin can actually be described as the American version of Pastor George Okudi. Like the Ugandan Kora Award winner, Franklin's somewhat mischievous, charismatic, dynamic, almost-explosive personality is the driving force behind his success.
Gen. Katumba Wamala, Pastor Wilson Bugembe were some of the VIPs at Kirk Franklin's show at Lugogo, Saturday, May 24, 2008
However, Franklin does not exactly sing. By his own admission, he is not a rapper, either. He certainly can dance, although that is not the focus of his performance and he is a fine pianist. But more often than not, he lets someone else handle the keyboards.
It seems, then, that a good question would be: What exactly does Franklin do that makes him the guy whose name goes in the artistâ's spot on the front of his CDs?
The answer holds the key to what a Franklin CD is, and why his new project, The Fight of My Life, is an artistic success.
Part of Franklinâ's appeal is the way he flows between being a showman and a minister and makes it all look effortless. His willingness to be open about all the drama in his life also helped, especially when he talks about his sister is on the run from the law, and with the song Let It Go, chronicling his troubled childhood and the beginnings of the pornography addiction he broke free from five years ago.
Gospel artiste Kirk Franklin (centre) with the Vice-President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya (left) at his Kakiri residence on Thursday, Sept 10, 2009. Right is Dr. John Peyton. Photo by Francis Emorut
Wrote Bert Saraco: More than anything else, Kirk Franklin can be defined as a communicator: like a performance artist, Franklin transcends the normal functions of the recording artist: remember " he does not sing, play or even rap to any great extent, yet he bares his heart and soul, not just through the powerful lyrics (always sang by others), stirring arrangements and layered production, but by his shouting, pleading, encouraging, and often vulnerable interjections.
What Franklin does is almost impossible to define: his words are sometimes commentary, admonitions or confessions.
Sometimes he is in the role of your host, your master of ceremonies, your tour-guide but most often he is your brother, suffering the same doubts and insecurities, and battling the same demons that you are.
Franklin (centre) with the Vice-President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya (left) at his Kakiri residence on Thursday, Sept 10, 2009.
Discography
Year Album
1993 Kirk Franklin and Family
1995 Kirk Franklin & Family Christmas
1996 Whatcha Lookin’ 4
1997 God's Property
1998 The Nu Nation Project
2002 The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin
2005 Hero
2006 Songs for the Storm, Volume 1
2007 The Fight of My Life