Kirk Franklin says he no longer feels the need to explain himself ahead of new album, ‘I Am What I Am’

After 33 years in gospel music, the Grammy-winning gospel artist reflects on his creative journey, the personal experiences that shaped his relationship with music and his decision to embrace every side of his artistry.

After 33 years in gospel music, Kirk Franklin is done explaining himself. Since launching his career in the early 1990s, Franklin has challenged the genre’s traditional boundaries by blending hip-hop and contemporary R&B with choir arrangements. His musical choices have drawn criticism from church leaders and listeners who’ve opined he had gone too far.

Now, as he prepares to release his 14th studio album, “I Am What I Am”, on Friday, Franklin is reflecting on what it means to embrace who he is without feeling compelled to defend his creative choices.

“I’ve been in this seat a multiplicity of times, and so you get to a space where you really just resolve. And I don’t explain as much as I used to,” Franklin told TheGrio.

“I Am What I Am,” Franklin’s first double album, reflects his acceptance of himself after decades of navigating questions about his faith, musical choices and place in gospel music. The new album brings together two sides of his artistry, pairing contemporary recordings featuring artists from different genres with traditional, choir-driven gospel.

Throughout his career, the Texas native has been open about the painful experiences that shaped him, including childhood trauma, abandonment and becoming a father at a young age. He has discussed those struggles in his books, interviews and music. Franklin’s relationship with music runs deeper than his career. In “Free Me Tonight,” which features country artist Jelly Roll and samples Phil Collins’ 1981 hit “In the Air Tonight,” Franklin reveals that music was another love he had alongside his wife and four children.

“Music was the first thing that ever told me it loved me,” Franklin said. “I didn’t receive that from a mother or father. I didn’t have parents tell me I would be something. [Not] even the woman that adopted me.”

He continued, “The piano and music were the first things that had my heart, and so, it is hard to find a space sometimes for any other love in my life. But that was my initial understanding of love.”

Franklin also shared the complicated relationship he’s had with music, describing it as an “intrusive lover” who is also a “beautiful provider.” He acknowledged the sacrifices that came with his commitment to music and how it sometimes affected his ability to make space for his family.

“It’s something that I will probably have to, for the rest of my life, find moments to say I’m sorry to those that are close to me,” Franklin said.

Embracing himself also means that he doesn’t have everything figured out. Franklin explained why he wanted to bring both sides of his artistry together for “I Am What I Am.” On the first seven-track disc, Franklin explores a modern sound, blending soft rock, Afrobeats and contemporary R&B. The second disc, also featuring seven tracks, takes him back to his traditional gospel roots.

When asked why he brought these two musical worlds together on one album, Franklin explained that the project lets him showcase different sides of himself and reach listeners who might not otherwise engage with both styles of music.

“It’s just important for people to still see both sides of me, to be able to see the duality of my heart, to be able to see the duality of what I love to do,” he said, noting, “[It gives] everyone all of Kirk at one time.”

The second disc features tracks like “Someday” and “It Is Well,” which return to the traditional gospel sound heard in many of Franklin’s career classics, including “Silver and Gold,” “The Storm Is Over Now” and “Hosanna.” While his creative process remained the same, Franklin said it was “beautiful” to recreate those musical sensibilities, but admitted that it was challenging.

“It was really hard because I didn’t know if I could still do it,” he said.

Franklin’s decision to embrace different sides of his artistry also reflects his willingness to challenge expectations about gospel music. His collaboration with GloRilla on “This Time” is another example of that approach, particularly as she has faced criticism for incorporating gospel influences into her music.

“I love her heart for the genre. I mean, the girl’s name is Gloria Hallelujah. She was raised in church and knows more about gospel music than people would ever expect. You’d be amazed,” Franklin said.

He said he could handle criticism, but found some of the backlash against GloRilla “very irritating,” particularly when it lacked empathy and Christ-like kindness.

“Because when she says to me, ‘Kirk, the Bible says that the rocks will cry out.’ And so she says, ‘Kirk, if rocks can praise God, why can’t I?’ I think that we have to wrestle with who is accepted and who is not accepted to be able to praise the name of Jesus.”

After decades of challenging expectations about gospel music, Franklin hopes listeners will recognize that the person they questioned 30 years ago is the same person they hear on his new album.

“What you questioned and didn’t understand then, I hope that you see now that that really was who I was. And if you still don’t get that that’s who I was, then you’ll have a second chance to now embrace what I am with ‘I Am What I Am.’”