Published on Mar 20, 1999
I am not a fan of gospel music in general. Something about the
choirs just doesn’t resonate with me usually.
However, I do appreciate much of contemporary R&B music.
Kirk Franklin, to his credit, has consistently been about the task
of building a bridge between the gospel and contemporary Christian
markets as well as the secular R&B and rap markets. His latest
album,
The Nu Nation Project, may well be the one that completes
those bridges.
This album is a winner in every sense of the word, specifically
judged the best contemporary soul gospel album recently by the
Grammy Awards.
Over the years Franklin has been accused by some of “selling
out” traditional gospel music by grafting on to it elements of
R&B, rap, and rock and roll. He’s been criticized for
relationships he’s cultivated with secular music artists who have
been accused of having less than clean reputations.
This is all hoo-ha, in my opinion. But, it’s “hoo-ha” that
Franklin has attacked head on in this disc by crafting two
interludes that show how ridiculous those accusations are and by
inviting luminaries from nearly all genre’s of music to
participate.
R. Kelly and Mary J. Blige appear from R&B. U2’s frontman,
Bono, shows up from rock and roll. Contemporary Christian music’s
Crystal Lewis lends her pipes and gospel’s reigning king, Fred
Hammond, puts in a stunning appearance.
Kelly, Blige, Bono and Lewis all appear on the ballad “Lean On
Me”, which was spotlighted on the recent Grammy telecast. This is
not a remake of the Bill Withers tune of the same name. This song,
with the four principals trading lead vocal chores back and forth,
is a call for believers to reach out to those who are suffering in
an effort to lead them to the One who can give them what they
really need, Jesus Christ.
Incidentally, Crystal Lewis and her record company Metro One,
with Franklin’s blessing and encouragement, recorded a solo version
of this song that — unbelievably — outperforms the album version.
Lewis’ vocals are superb – among the best things she’s ever done.
Ironically, the solo version was recorded to give the song more
exposure on contemporary Christian radio stations because it was
feared program directors wouldn’t play a song that features Kelly,
Blige and Bono – all performers who’ve claimed to be Christian but
don’t perform within the accepted realm of CCM music and who’s
lives sometimes have presented a questionable Christian image.
Lewis’ version of the song is only available on repackaged
versions of her
Gold project. Be sure to check the song listing to be
certain you have the right version.
Throughout, Franklin is ably backed as usual by his choirs, The
Family, Nu Nation and God’s Property. On “Revolution” (not the
Beatles’ song) Franklin and Rodney Jerkins slam it home to men who
are letting violence and lust rule their lives:
“Sick and tired of my brothas/Killing each other/Sick and tired
of daddies leaving/Babies with their mothers/To every man who wants
to lay around and play around/Listen potnah you should be man
enough to stay around”
Franklin and Jerkins pull no punches in this song, telling these
men that if they really want a revolution they need to turn their
lives over to Jesus.
Just when you’ve settled into Franklin’s comfortable R&B
groove, along comes the song “Smile Again” which opens with
screaming rock guitars. One of Franklin’s strengths as the leader
of the choir is picking just the right voices to sing his songs. On
this song James Henderson and Donnie McClurkin share the vocal
chores, with Henderson starting things off rough and McClurkin
coming along and smoothing things out.
“My brother don’t you worry/Storms don’t last always/there’s a
man from glory/Full of mercy and grace/Keep your head up/Smile
again”
Franklin, who wrote or co-wrote all of the songs, is not a
preacher. He’s an exhorter. His songs calls his listeners to their
best. He provides his best and he wants the listeners to do the
same. In the song “Hold Me Now”, he shares about his own
experiences with being depressed and enduring suffering:
“To every broken person that may hear this song/To every boy or
girl who feels their smile is gone/I know exactly how it feels to
lay in bed at night/And cry/And cry/Don’t you worry God is faithful
and He cares.”
This is not a gospel album and yet it is a gospel album. This is
not a contemporary Christian album, but it surely is. This is not a
rock and roll album, but it certainly has elements of rock blended
in.
Franklin has created an album that everyone can enjoy and be
stretched – at least musically – by.