Kirk Franklin — NPR Tiny Desk (Home), 2021

Released on February 25, 2021 as part of Black History Month, this Tiny Desk (Home) Concert was filmed in Arlington, Texas at the Uncle Jessie’s Kitchen studio. It features Kirk Franklin, the artist who has revolutionized gospel for nearly thirty years by folding in hip-hop, funk and R&B without ever betraying the genre’s spiritual message. Surrounded by his band and choir, a sixteen-time Grammy winner, Franklin delivers a jubilant performance in which the music’s contagious energy is answered, on screen, by a large photograph of the “I AM A MAN” signs from the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. That juxtaposition recalls the central place of gospel in the history and struggle of the Black community. Captured live, with choir and rhythm section, this multi-song session illustrates the modernity of a deeply rooted genre. A must-see filmed live concert for discovering contemporary gospel and one of its greatest ambassadors, in a setting that ties the sacred to the political.