Latest / The Breakfast Club / Kirk Franklin on Faith, Healing & Finding Himself

Transcript

Kirk Franklin on Faith, Healing & Finding Himself · The Breakfast Club

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: and everybody. You hear that exclusive?
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: You know she don't lie about that, right? Lauren came
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: in hot. Hey y'all, what's up?
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: It's Lauren LaRosa and this is another episode of The Latest.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: With Lauren LaRosa. This is your daily dig on all.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Things pop culture, entertainment news, and all of the conversations.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: That shake the room, baby.
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: Uh, now.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: We normally check in behind the scenes of The Grind,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: but honestly, today, I'm not even going to do that
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: because I think this episode itself will be full and enough.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: For you to use as your check-in.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: I was honored to sit in conversation with the Kirk Franklin,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: you know, Grammy-winning, award-winning gospel artist, but even bigger than
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: a gospel artist, Kirk Franklin, for over 30 years now,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: has been the soundtrack to our lives, to our faith,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: to our belief in God, higher powers, and all of
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the above. And he has very vulnerably been a man
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: that is imperfect in front of us, a man that
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: is a father, a man that is a husband. The
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: duality of Kirk Franklin and everything that he has brought
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: to the gospel world and from the gospel world to
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: the rest of the folk, to everybody. I was going
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: to say to the secular world, as my grandma would
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: put it, but I mean, he's broken through genres.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: He's broken through religion and faith.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: He speaks to people of all walks of life in
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: a way that is very honest and encouraging and just full.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: You know, I think when people have conversations about religion
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: and faith and all of the things that kind of
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: make that type of stuff so uh boxy sometimes or
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: so here's the rules here's how it's supposed to go
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: it can it can get a little deterring for people
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: that are on this faith walk or on this journey
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: in life to figure out even what their faith faith
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: walk with God and their relationship with God looks like
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: but you know Kirk Franklin has been one of those
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: people that has always been very open open and honest
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: about his journey and the things that he's experiencing and
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: I think the world needs Kirk Franklin more than we
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: even understand, especially in a time like this where there's
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: so many things that are blurred from government to, you know, shoot,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: trickling and what's happening in the government with this administration
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: that's affecting our work lives, our personal lives, our mental.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: There's just so much happening right now.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: So to have someone who understands the inside of the church,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: but also the outside of the church who has been
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: through some real things.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Kirk Franklin is one of the ones.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: So we sat down for a intimate conversation in New
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: York City for his new album that will be out
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: in the fall called I Am What I Am. This
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: is a dual disc album. So there's two discs. One
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: side of it is all live music recordings. The other
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: side of it is in studio recordings. This is Kirk
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Franklin's first time doing a double disc album. You guys
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: are going to enjoy it. I was able to listen
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: to the music. I actually was able to sit with
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: the music and really, you know, get into the feeling
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and all the things in the music for about a
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: week prior to having this conversation with him. And then
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: we did a track by track listening in front of
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: a room of about maybe 40 to 50 people, including
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: his new label, Uptown, who he's in partnership with. uh
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: shout out to danielle price and natina um over there
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: two black women are at the helm of that so
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: that was also fire to see and to see you
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: know their partnership up close and personal and it was
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: yeah it was it was really like we literally we
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: had conversation we went to church we cried we laughed
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: we did all the things so i'm excited to get
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: into this conversation i'm excited for you guys to hear
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: the music even though you won't hear it here on
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: this podcast we ain't But I do have some clips
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: from the conversation that I thought, you know, somebody needed
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: to hear today. From a cultural standpoint and just a
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: conversation standpoint, but also from a faith-based standpoint. So I
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: talked to Kirk Franklin a bit about his duality. That
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: has always been a conversation with Kirk Franklin because of,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: you know, some of the artists he chooses to feature today.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: On this project, he addresses some of the things that
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: we've seen and some things, you know, unseen. He talks about,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: you know, the moment where we heard him getting into
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: it with his son on that recorded phone call, cussing
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: his son out, child. He also talks about.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: some of the pushback that he received for how he performs,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: how he dances while performing.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: He talked about the, I would say the burden.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: I don't know if he would use that word, but
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: what I took from the song was it's the burden
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: of being the one that people point to in gospel
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: music and, and having, you know, on that stage for
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: all of this time. And I can't wait for y'all to.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Hear the music in the song.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: He's like talking about how, From the outside looking in,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: it's like Kirk Franklin, he's been here, he's been at
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: the helm for so long, but his star is so big,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: he's in the way. But from Kirk Franklin's perspective, it's like, man,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: do you know what it took to be here for
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: this long? I apologize if I'm in. He literally says,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry. you know, he's like, I'm apologizing if I'm
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: in the way, but if it's your burden that I'm
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: here and my star is this big and it's really not,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: but the burden I carry from being the one who
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: has been here in this space, doing so many things
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: for the first time at the same time, it's like
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: the duality of his journey as an artist and being
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: kind of the outcast in the gospel community for some time,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: which he talks about as well too. Great song, but
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: this too, he opens up and that's a very like
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: sad like it not even sad you just feel it's
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: deep it's it's emotion um with that song but on
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: this too he opens up this too completely like different
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: like completely opposite in energy and tone and everything with
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: a song called someday and I talked to him a
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: bit about that duality right like going from that deep
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: you know sometimes even dark place where faith And God
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: is the only thing that can pull you out of
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: it to praising, rejoicing and worshiping and the duality of that.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Let's take a look.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: That first, this one, we felt you, we felt your pain.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: We felt, you know, your thoughts, different things that I
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: don't think I've ever really heard you express openly. And
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: then this too, it was like, but God, and he's
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: there all the time. And you were way more comfortable
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: in that moment and it was more open. And I
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: think rejoicing was your safe space. And it probably always
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: been for the last like 30 plus years or something, right?
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Talk to me a bit about that. The contrast in
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: the opening songs on this one and this too.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: The truth is I'm comfortable in both.
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: And I think that's been my issue all my entire
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: career is that how do I communicate this complex duality
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: that I live in? I was raised in church, but
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: I was influenced by streets and problems. And, you know,
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: I was a, you know, I mean, I was in church,
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: but I was listening to Bob deep and, you know,
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: and Eric being like him. And, you know, and so
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: I had this challenge and it was always my tension.
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: You know, it's a tension I lived in. And so
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: a lot of times you become misunderstood in that tension.
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: But it's really me. It's really me. It is really me.
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: It's not me.
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: You know, I know historically people think that I'm trying
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: to be It's really me.
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: And the older.
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: I'm becoming, you know, the more I really do care
• 8:15
  Speaker 5: less about.
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: Trying to explain.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: When I was listening to the project in that, especially man,
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: at first that intro song, and we all hear it
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: in all the things that he talks about that he's
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: been carrying as a gospel artist in the space that
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: he's in, who gets the.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Backlash that he does, but also gets the love.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: People have been loving Kirk Franklin literally my whole life,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: over 30 years. I'm 34 years old. I said that
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: in the conversation. Like, do you realize, like, I'm 34.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: I'm a whole 34-year-old human. You've been doing this as
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: long as I've been alive. But he talks about a
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: lot of different things. And one of my questions to
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: him is, was when did he learn to be kind
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: to himself? Because in the song, Someday, and in a
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: lot of the songs on this project, it's almost like
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: a therapy session. Like he's addressing the mental health of
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: it all, the way you think about yourself, the way
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: you talk to yourself, the way you treat yourself. Let's
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: take a listen to Kirk Franklin's answer to when did
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: he learn to be kind to himself?
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: And I, you know, like this, this song for me,
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: The idea was really trying to find another way of
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: addressing mental health. Like Hook said, please be kind to
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: yourself just a little bit.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: Will you ever doubt God? Yeah, just a little bit.
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: But when you look back on your life, you can
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: admit it gets better. When did you learn to be
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: kind to yourself? Still learning. Still learning. Still learning.
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: It's a difficult life when you have to live a
• 9:58
  Speaker 5: public life because you're trying not to read the comments,
• 10:01
  Speaker 5: see the reviews. But, you know, when you live with
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: your art on your shoulder, you know, it's a very
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: vulnerable place to live.
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: Public and you in the faith world. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: Because, you know, they don't always match. And so it's
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: been difficult. But by God's grace, I'm still here.
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: It was really interesting to hear, um, you know, just
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: how some of the audience felt following the music with
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: their spirit led them and their heart led them.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: No one that, you know, talk to.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Kirk Franklin about, uh, there was young one guy that
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: stood up that talked about, um, just where he is
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: in his faith journey, letting go and letting God and
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: how you have to, you really gotta, you know, be
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: honest with yourself about some things in order to do that. Um,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: and I, and be accountable for what you're, the fact
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: that sometimes you're not doing it right. And, He asked
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Kirk Franklin, what is something that has to die in
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: him daily to continue to show up as Kirk Franklin?
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Thought it was a great answer.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: Let's take a look.
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: How's everybody doing?
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: All right. So I'm Lorenzo Hernandez. I'm a dean at
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: a high school in Dykeman. I run a podcast called
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: Conversation Result Podcast. And I want to ask you, what
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: is something you have to die to daily?
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: I mean, there are too many components in me that
• 11:21
  Speaker 5: can get in the way. But the beautiful thing at
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: this stage in my life is me and God have been.
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: So cool for so long that.
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: I already know the things, and now I've become cool
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: with the things I need to die to.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: Does that make sense?
• 11:39
  Speaker 5: Like in the beginning, you know, it can be complex,
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: but then you become clear of, okay, this needs to
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: be out of the way for.
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: And so you.
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: Become comfortable trying to make it more of a, just
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: a part of your walk than a list.
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: That you got to keep. You know what I mean?
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: Because when you keep it as a list, it becomes rules.
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: Like, you know, like no wife wants to come home
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: and see on the fridge a list of stuff that
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: her husband thinks he got to do for her. She
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: wants it to be natural. She don't want to always
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: see him having a list. Okay, I got to be nice.
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: I got to be kind. I got to speak. I
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: got to listen. You know, she wants to see it flow.
• 12:18
  Speaker 5: And same thing, Heavenly Father just wants us to have
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: a flow with him, that we're so mad cool with him,
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: that the things that he wants, we want for him.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: So I'm in a season in my life where I embrace, like,
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: let go and let God means also being cool with.
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: Whatever outcome he has for you. Thanks.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: So whatever he wants is whatever he wants.
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: And it's a beautiful place, and I'm very proud of you, King.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: The world needs.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Something to hold on to right now, like something to
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: really grab on to, to hold us, to comfort us.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: You know, like your grandma's hugs, your mom's hugs, or
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: like just a feeling when you walk back in your
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: mom's house or the house that you grew up in
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: or just around family, right? Like it's that comfort that
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: is like silent, like no one has to say anything,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: no one has to do anything, but the comfort that
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: you instantly feel. I think For some people right now,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: because of everything that people are dealing with, man, just
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: trying to afford gas to get to work every single day.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: We need something right now.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: And I've always been taught that, you know, there is
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: nothing that can ever come your way that is put
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: on you that God didn't already figure out for you,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: that he didn't already know that you were experiencing. And
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: Kirk's Franklin's I Am What I Am album, I think
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: is one of those things, one of those vessels that,
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: that was placed here in the world through an artist
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: named Kirk Franklin to get out to the people in
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: the time it couldn't be any better and it's insane
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: because I think when you've been doing something for as
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: long as he has I would think that like it
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: builds so much like uber confidence right like like nobody
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: can tell you anything for sure for sure Mr. Kirk
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Franklin is you know undoubtedly one of the biggest voices
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: in it like I'm not even in gospel honestly in
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: culture in music period so to hear him say what
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: he told us in that room in this next audio
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: clip kind of took I was like oh wow like
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: you it never stops where you know sometimes you can
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: get to that point where there are questions that you
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: have for yourself and maybe it turns into questioning yourself
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: and your ability Kirk Franklin talked about wondering if he
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: even had anything left to say again, go into maybe
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: there's something else that you haven't discussed that after watching
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: the impact on just this room alone. I was in
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: tears by one of the songs. I Am What I Am,
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: the album title, as we close, what's the message to
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: the world about who you are that is who you are?
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I am blessed and broken. I am a child
• 15:09
  Speaker 5: of God.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: I am a.
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: A flawed representative. I am happy and healing. I am
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: a love of Jesus and I also welcome smoke. I
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: am confrontational but I'm also compassionate. I'm not afraid to
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: fight but I am very eager to love, you know,
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: and both.
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: And I'm okay with both.
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: I am so okay now at this stage in my
• 15:51
  Speaker 5: life with me. I'm so comfortable now. And I haven't
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: always been comfortable. It is hard being a Christian that
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: has lived in this space of trying to figure out
• 16:00
  Speaker 5: how do you rock with God, but you have so
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: many questions and confusions and you don't fit the traditional mold.
• 16:08
  Speaker 5: You know, I've never been able to fit into that space.
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: And I understand now why. And I'm okay.
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: But I do want to say this in closing to
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: all of you, especially, you know, thank you again, Miss
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: Danielle and Miss Latina and, you know, the entire Uptown family,
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: is that it meant the world to me to watch
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: y'all listen to this music. This was my first time
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: doing this with this body of work. And This music
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: was hard to deliver. It was hard writing. It was
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: hard doing it because, you know, I've been doing music
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: for so long. Sometimes you get afraid that you don't
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: have enough to say. You know, you do. You just like, OK, well,
• 16:52
  Speaker 5: what else can I say? And I just think, you know, God,
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: he was kind enough to, you know, still drop me
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: some some love letters.
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: And so it meant the world to me to watch.
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: You guys hear this music. And it was very encouraging
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: for you to take out of your business schedule again.
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: And I'm just happy with what I saw.
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: And I'm grateful for this opportunity.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: Thank you. I Am What I Am coming this fall.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: All right, y'all.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: So that was my conversation with Kirk Franklin for the
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: I Am What I Am private listening event that we
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: did in New York City.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: Again, the album will be out this fall. Can't wait
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: for you guys to hear. I hope that this conversation...
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: filled you up as.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Much as it did me and the other people in
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: the room I'm Lauren La Rosa this has been another
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: episode of the latest Lauren La Rosa I tell you
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: guys all the time y'all could be anywhere with any
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: old body having all of these conversations but you guys
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: choose to be right here with me and hello riders
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you and I'll catch you in my next
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: one