Kirk Franklin Reacts to Kanye West's 'Yeezus' Album
Kirk Franklin, gospel musician and choir director, recently spoke up about his thoughts on rapper Kanye West's upcoming studio album titled Yeezus.
Franklin, 43, recently appeared on Shade 45's radio show "Sway In The Morning" where he was questioned about his thoughts on 35-year-old West's upcoming album title possibly being blasphemous. Franklin admitted that West was a friend of his, and even acknowledged that he wished he had come across the rapper's 2004 hit single "Jesus Walks" first.
"He's a good friend of me. I'm mad at Jesus for not giving me that joint," Franklin told radio host Sway Calloway jokingly. "I was like Jesus your boy has been walking with you.I love that record still."
The gospel musician refused to use the radio show as an outlet to bash West and explained that speaking on a microphone was a powerful responsibility. Franklin said he would rather speak to West personally about the matter instead of addressing the issue of his album title on the public radio show.
"I think the microphone is a very powerful tool and you can use it to build people up or you can use it to kill people," Franklin said on the radio show. "And so if my job on earth is to always be a light in somebody's life, than I would want to use the tool to always communicate in a way that I'm going to uplift someone then I might not always do it through this tool which is the microphone. That may be heart to heart ... that may be a phone call or when I see somebody in person."
The gospel musician explained that he chose not to speak about some issues in depth publicly because he wanted to focus on being a positive impact on people's lives.
"I'm not one to believe that when people have been blessed with an opportunity and a microphone that it's needed for your view to always be used at that time because you've got to be wise with this," Franklin told Calloway. "So when I'm asked about Kanye or same sex marriage or anything else I've chosen to walk that light with people. I don't think the microphone should be used to make myself to seem wise or opinionated."