Why We Sing: A Masterclass with Kirk Franklin
Kirk Franklin is a 20-time GRAMMY® Award-winning artist, songwriter, producer, and music icon. For over three decades, he has been a transformative force in contemporary Gospel Music, masterfully blending Gospel, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Pop to create a unique and enduring sound that resonates across generations. Known as one of the most impactful and innovative figures in modern music, Franklin continues to expand the reach of Gospel Music, redefining its place in mainstream culture.
In October 2023, Franklin released his latest solo album, Father’s Day (Fo Yo Soul/RCA), which has received widespread critical and commercial acclaim. The album’s #1 hit single, “All Things,” earned Franklin his 20th GRAMMY Award at the 2024 GRAMMYs, where it won Best Gospel Performance/Song. This milestone cements Franklin’s status as the most decorated artist in Gospel Music history.
Franklin’s influence extends far beyond the recording studio. He recently headlined The Reunion Tour 2.0, following its highly successful debut in 2023. This year’s tour featured a star-studded lineup of Gospel icons, including Yolanda Adams, Fred Hammond, The Clark Sisters, and Marvin Sapp, with special guest Kierra Sheard-Kelly.
Beyond the accolades and chart-topping success, Franklin is passionate about making Gospel Music accessible to new audiences. He works tirelessly to ensure the genre reaches greater heights through collaborations with renowned artists such as Mariah Carey, Khalid, Lil Baby, Chance the Rapper, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Michael Jackson, and Wyclef Jean. These groundbreaking partnerships have expanded Gospel’s influence, bringing its message of hope and redemption to diverse listeners worldwide.
Franklin is equally committed to uplifting communities and nurturing the next generation of artists. Through his Camp Lotus, he provides aspiring musicians and singers with mentorship and resources to pursue their dreams. He also supports charitable organizations like Compassion International and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, using his platform to advocate for causes close to his heart.
In March 2023, Franklin made history by becoming the first artist to achieve 100 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Gospel Songwriters chart—a groundbreaking milestone on any Billboard songwriters’ chart. His SiriusXM channel, Kirk Franklin’s Praise, continues to bring Gospel Music to millions of listeners, while his ventures into film and television
further amplify his creative vision. Franklin has executive produced acclaimed projects like BET’s Kingdom Business and Lifetime’s Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas and The Night Before Christmas. In 2023, Franklin co-hosted TVOne’s dating show The One alongside his wife, Tammy Franklin, offering a fresh take on love and relationships.
Through his artistry, innovation, and dedication to community, Kirk Franklin remains a trailblazer whose impact transcends music. He continues to inspire millions around the world, using his platform to share a message of faith, love, and perseverance.
Professor Braxton Shelley is a path-breaking theorist of African American sacred music, and the faculty director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He is a scholar, an ordained minister, and an experienced church musician.
A native of North Carolina, Professor Shelley graduated with highest distinction from Duke University where he majored in music and minored in history. He then entered the Ph.D. program in the History and Theory of Music at the University of Chicago. While finishing his Ph.D., he also earned a Master of Divinity degree at the University of Chicago Divinity School, upon which he was ordained in the Missionary Baptist church. In 2017, he was appointed assistant professor of music at Harvard University, where he taught until he was appointed at Yale..
Professor Shelley is one of the most celebrated musicologists of his generation. He was awarded the Paul A. Pisk Prize in 2016 by the American Musicological Society (AMS) for the best paper by a graduate student. In 2018, he won the Dean’s Distinguished Dissertation Award from the University of Chicago’s Division of the Humanities. His field-changing article “Analyzing Gospel,” which appeared in the Journal of the AMS, was awarded prizes from all three major American professional societies for music studies: the Einstein Award from the AMS, the Kunst Prize from the Society of Ethnomusicology, and the Adam Krims Award from the Popular Music Interest Group of the Society of Music Theory. Recognition from these three scholarly organizations illustrates the extraordinary interdisciplinary expertise Prof. Shelley brings to our campus.
Professor Shelley’s first book, Healing for the Soul: Richard Smallwood, the Vamp, and the Gospel Imagination, published by Oxford University Press was hailed by Professor Cornel West as “the best book written on Gospel Music” and that the “instant classic forever changes modern scholarship in contemporary music and Black cultural performance.” Professor Guthrie Ramsey of the University of Pennsylvania said, “This profound and illuminating book could only have been written by someone who’s spent years on the cultural frontline: in the pulpit, behind a Hammond B-3 organ, and immersed in the archives of gospel music’s history and lived experiences.”
His second book with the University of California Press, is entitled An Eternal Pitch: Bishop G.E. Patterson and the Afterlives of Ecstasy. It analyzes the great preacher’s musical style, his use of radio and other media, and the digital reverberation of his ministry after his death in 2007.
Professor Shelley has nearly a dozen articles and book chapters in press or published. He is also a frequent guest lecturer and clinician.