Kirk Franklin is the latest musician to receive the biopic treatment. According to Deadline, the Grammy Award-winning gospel artist will be the subject of his life-told-on-film that’ll depict his experiences before the music industry and his journey throughout the business.
The news site also states the film will be produced by DeVon Franklin, an acclaimed author of faith-based best-selling books. The preacher’s Franklin Entertainment production company will take the reins on the film’s process alongside Kirk Franklin who’ll remain onboard as an executive producer.
The Texas native began his ascent to gospel music stardom when he released his debut studio effort, Kirk Franklin & The Family (1993). His discography boasts a bevy of albums, including his most recent Long Live Love, which entered at No. 1 on Billboard’s US Top Gospel Albums chart. Concerning the charts, Franklin is also celebrated as the first artist to sit atop all five of Billboard‘s gospel charts at the same time.
In a VIBE interview, Franklin discussed the inspiration behind one of Long Live Love‘s standout tracks, “Strong God,” and delving into a new realm of social commentary within the gospel genre.
“I think that one of the greatest misconceptions about gospel music from those that listen to it – and even at times those that do it – is that its agenda always has to be vertical, that there can never be a horizontal social commentary connected with the gospel, when at the same time one of the biggest modus operandi of Jesus Christ was the poor and the less fortunate and the widows,” he said. “And his level of frustration was the oppression that the government and the religious leaders put on those people. So, to have social commentary in a gospel song for me is very important. Even, you know it’s been part of my career, I was doing it back with “Lean on Me.”
