What inspired you to create the blog at your website?
Kirk
Franklin-Ya
know… just a way to continue to communicate with the people.
They want to talk to you, they want to hear from you and
so you know I’ve really enjoyed blogging. I haven’t been
there on point this past month because of the tour but
yeah man I really enjoy blogging. It’s really been cool.
What advice would you tell someone who wanted to get
started in gospel music?
Kirk
Franklin-Awe
man first you got to live it. It has got to be something
you make a commitment too and it has got to be your lifestyle.
A lot of cats think you can get up and sing gospel like
you can any other type of music. The thing with gospel
music is that if you sing gospel music you are saying
“This is who I am and this is what I believe.” If you
aren’t ready to do that….its almost like marriage. If
you aren’t ready to settle down don’t be trying to put
no ring on nobody’s finger. Ya know? Same frame of mine.
You know Rev Run has a MTV reality series with his
family. Would you ever consider having a Kirk Franklin
and family reality series?
Kirk Franklin-I
don’t know. I think I kinda want my family to live a little
normal.
This is a question that my friend Angel wanted me to ask
you. She said she always liked your music because it had
a secular kind of sound and didn’t sound like any other
gospel music she had ever heard. She wanted me to ask
you was that something intentional to make a style of
music the younger people could relate to?
Kirk Franklin-No,
it was not intentional. When everything first started…what
I think a lot of people don’t realize is that even though
I was raised in church, church music didn’t inspire me.
As a kid coming up I was really a kid on the corner. I
listened to hip-hop. I was there when hip-hop was a baby.
We went to daycare together. Me and hip-hop went to the
prom together. I’m kind of disappointed in her now. She
ain’t like what she used to be. The urban music influenced
me as a kid. It wasn’t until I became a Christian when
I was 15 that I started listening to gospel music and
started being influenced by gospel music. I was playing
for the church as a little kid just to get a check. After
church Thursday nights I would hit the club, the little
teen clubs, I was watching the big ballers drive by in
their Coup De Ville’s and Monte Carlo’s. So the music
that inspired me was the music that God kept with me.
In other words it saved my soul but it didn’t change my
swagger.
When I wrote my review of the Hero CD I said it seemed
like it was a very healing CD for you. Was that a fair
assessment?
Kirk
Franklin-Yeah, yeah, yeah. For me more
than anything, I can start kinda start seeing in the culture
that there is this image of Christians and church folk
that I don’t like. That we are holier than thou and we
are self righteous. There are cats up in here—including
me that have junk and luggage and maybe we can reach for
the world if we show some of our scars. So if we show
people that “No man we are bruised and broken too.”
Me and my friends wanted to offer our support for
you coming out about the pornography addiction because
we think its something not talked about, but were you
ever afraid about losing fans?
Kirk Franklin-Well
remember its something I came out with that used to be
a problem.
Yeah a long time ago.
Kirk Franklin-It’s
something I have been talking about in church for years.
What happened was Oprah’s people called about me doing
it, it was something that I had already been doing so
it was a continuation of what I had been doing, so for
me it was nothing new.
Just some more people heard about it.
Kirk Franklin-Because
of Oprah.
You released an autobiography, Church Boys almost a decade
ago. Have you had any thoughts about releasing another
new book?
Kirk
Franklin-Maybe so I’ve been thinking
about it. We’re just playing with ideas. We’ll see. Time
will tell.
Have you ever considered launching a televised ministry
like on maybe The Church Channel or the Word Channel or
Trinity Broadcasting?
Kirk Franklin-You
know..I don’t know. I’m just kind of in a holding pattern
right now. Just kind of making sure I’m hearing what God
wants me to do next. I enjoy those things but I want to
make sure it’s Gods will and Gods timing you know, does
he want me to do Christian TV or secular TV what does
he want me to do.
What are your personal feelings about gospel rap?
Kirk Franklin-I
think that hip-hop is part of our culture. You can’t deny
that there are millions of African-Americans and white
people now that were raised on it.
What can people expect who come out to see you on this
tour?
Kirk Franklin-We
just want everybody—physical man and spiritual man to
be satisfied on the tour. We want people to leave feeling
like the Christians don’t have to live in some corner
that they don’t have to die and just get saved and sit
around the house and play Monopoly. They can be out in
the world and when I say the world I mean the work force,
go to the movies, have fun, enjoy yourself, live life
that’s what I want them to see on this tour.
Kirk Franklin Interview—Part 2 (3/1/06 later in the
day)
During the first part of the interview Kirk was
seeing his wife off to the airport and in between
phone calls. So since he felt like he cut me short
he politely and graciously called back four hours
later to finish the interview.
How long does the tour last?
Kirk
Franklin-For about 10 weeks. Then
we’re going to break it down and I’m going to go to
different kind of markets like San Antonio, Minneapolis,
markets you usually can’t take a like a tour that
size. With a tour that size sometimes you aren’t always
able to get everywhere so we are going to break it
down so we can get more places.
It seems like you are always working, do you ever
have time to rest?
Kirk
Franklin-Yeah man. Whenever you
do have time for rest you have to learn how to take
it.
What music artists do you like to listen to when
you are not recording or working?
Kirk
Franklin-I kind of listen to a little
gumbo. I listen to Coldplay…Yo Yo Ma, he is a classical
cellist, I listen to Al Green, I listen to some old
school hip-hop. The Fugees, some Fred Hammond, I listen
to a lot of different types of music.
At this point in your career are you satisfied
with all of your career accomplishments or are there
a lot of things that you would still like to do?
Kirk
Franklin-I don’t really try to look
at stuff like that. For me I’m just very grateful,
and I’m not trying to sound all deep, I’m just grateful
that God still shows me grace and still uses me to
do whatever it is he wants me to do. That’s a great
honor to me. There is no ingratitude or not being
appreciative of where I’m at and always wanting to
be somewhere else for me it’s a spirit of gratitude.
That’s a good way to look at it. I’ve never been
to a Kirk Franklin show. What is the show like?
Kirk
Franklin-Awe man, its kinda hard
to explain or try to describe yourself.
Well you know…that’s a good way to look at it, in
terms of yourself because most people I ask that question
are like, “Oh I got pyrotechnics, I got this,” but
it is about you.
Kirk
Franklin-And just because you got
that stuff don’t make it a good performance. That
one you will have to ask someone else.
Well what’s the feeling like? Do you get nervous?
Kirk
Franklin-I mean you get the woolies
a little; that just kinda comes with it. Just to be
able to present your faith in this way that you want
people to get excited about it the way you are excited
about it, its really cool. That’s a real good feeling
because you want people to feel what you feel and
get excited about what you are excited about.
I ask all the artists this. The thing about Thabiz.com
is I try to let people know about the business aspect
of things. How do you deal with people handing you
their music and asking you to help them get into the
industry?
Kirk
Franklin-I try to be respectful.
I try to be sensitive to it. I try not to be mean.
You are not going to be able to accommodate everyone.
Sometimes people don’t understand. You want to be
sensitive because you were there yourself. Cause you
lived it you really try to be sensitive to it and
its not always the easiest thing. I’m going to continue
to try to be sensitive to people.
Last question. I’m sure everyone always asks you
about the music, but what are some of your favorite
movies?
Kirk
Franklin-Oh yeah. Well I’m a Denzel
fan. I like to get down with anything he does. From
X to Training Day to Mo Betta Blues and I’m a Ridley
Scott fan, The Gladiator, I like dramas like Scarface,
the Godfather Trilogy, stuff like that I get down
on. I think Tom Hanks is a great actor, I like a lot
of his stuff. I’m a movie buff. |
Kirk Franklin
interview may not be reprinted, copied or distribute without
permission. You may link to this interview.Interview copyright
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com February 2006.
|
