6 min read
Major Takeaways
- Kirk Franklin released I Am What I Am on October 30, 2026.
- It is his 14th solo album and his first double album.
- Guests include GloRilla, Davido, Jelly Roll and Tobe Nwigwe.
- This Time gave Franklin his 10th No. 1 gospel song.
Kirk Franklin has spent three decades refusing to stay in one lane.
On October 30, the Texas gospel icon released I Am What I Am.
The project is his 14th full length solo album.
It is also the first double album of his career.
At 56, the 20 time Grammy winner sounds settled and restless at once.
He honors the church that raised his sound.
He also invites the wider Black music world into the room.
Two Sides, One Kirk Franklin Story
The album holds 14 tracks split evenly in two.
Seven songs are new studio recordings.
Seven songs were recorded live with traditional gospel at the center.
The studio side leans into contemporary sounds and bold guests.
The live side returns to choir, band and congregation energy.
That balance is the whole point of the title.
Franklin presents both sides as one artist, not two competing acts.
Uptown Records released the album this fall.
Franklin partnered with the label earlier this year.
His own Fo Yo Soul Entertainment joined that partnership.
TRIBL Music Group is also part of the team.
The Guest List Tells The Story
The focus track is Hope In You with Davido.
The song runs three minutes and 27 seconds.
It places Afrobeats rhythm inside a gospel message of hope.
Free Me Tonight opens the studio side with Jelly Roll.
Franklin performs spoken word on that deeply personal track.
The song nods to In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins.
He reflects on flaws, public criticism and hard private moments.
He even addresses the 2021 controversy involving his son Kerrion.
A leaked recording of a painful family call shook his career then.
Franklin says creating the song felt cathartic.
It Gets Better brings in Houston artist Tobe Nwigwe.
Able, Do It Again and Stay complete the studio side.
The live side includes Someday and It Is Well.
Welcome In finds Franklin feeling forgotten by God at times.
It also gives thanks for the steadfast presence of God.
Holy and Beautiful Thorns keep the live worship moving.
Time closes the album with Tim Rogers.
This Time Already Made Chart History
This Time pairs Franklin with Memphis star GloRilla.
The song was released on September 25.
It debuted at No. 1 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart.
That chart was dated October 10.
It became the 10th No. 1 of the career of Franklin on that chart.
He is the first artist to reach double digits there.
The ranking began in 2005.
The track also interpolates Children Of The Sun by Mandrill.
Its chorus is built to be sung loud and together.
GloRilla brings upbeat bars and sharp, quotable wordplay.
Her appearance shows another side of her artistry.
Thank You For Everything tells a similar story of reach.
The song features Karen Clark Sheard of The Clark Sisters.
It has become the fastest growing record at gospel radio.
Franklin performed it at the 41st Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards.
Its video made its broadcast debut on BET Her.
No More Apologies For Crossing Lines
Franklin says he is tired of defending his musical decisions.
He is not sorry for working with GloRilla on this album.
Critics have pointed to the explicit content in her catalog.
He is also not sorry for a recent prayer moment.
He prayed with Chris Brown and Usher before a concert.
That moment drew criticism on social media.
Franklin says the two stars simply asked him to pray.
So he did.
“We as believers sometimes become judge and jury,” Franklin said.
He warned that judgment can block the very people believers should reach.
“The decision to determine what needs to have the harder penance is where we find ourselves lost in how we miss reaching those that need us,” he said.
His work with rappers has raised questions for years.
He has recorded with Ye and with Lil Baby before.
“You start trying to play in other people’s sandboxes, it is going to come with scrutiny,” Franklin said.
He asks why mainstream stars give their time to gospel songs.
He believes a deeper pull brings them into the studio.
For more stories like this, see our Entertainment coverage at Urban City Podcast.
Why This Matters For Black Music
Gospel has always powered Black popular music in America.
Franklin made that connection impossible to ignore for new generations.
His 1997 hit Stomp Remix featured Salt of Salt N Pepa.
The song earned heavy rotation on radio and music video networks.
Its album reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
It also topped the R&B albums chart.
That was a first for a gospel project.
Classics like Melodies From Heaven still fill church services today.
Something About the Name Jesus remains a modern standard.
I Smile and Looking For You crossed over without losing faith.
Last year brought another major honor for Franklin.
The Recording Academy Black Music Collective gave him its icon award.
He shared that honor with Pharrell Williams and Brandy.
His story gives that honor real weight.
Franklin was adopted at age four after a tumultuous childhood.
He has spoken openly about dropping out and becoming a teen father.
Music and faith became his way forward.
That testimony still speaks to families across our community.
Read more about the culture behind the music in our Culture section.
You can also follow the latest headlines at Urban City Podcast.
A Calling, Not Just A Release
Franklin calls his art a lifelong calling, not just entertainment.
“The hole that I came from was so deep that whenever I’m around light, I never get tired of feeling the sunlight,” he said.
That line explains the joy listeners hear in this album.
It also explains the honesty running through its quieter songs.
The Bible, he notes, holds beautiful and painful stories side by side.
He believes gospel music can handle raw and unfiltered truth.
I Am What I Am asks listeners to bring their whole selves.
Church roots, rap energy, Afrobeats pulse and live worship all belong.
Thirty three years in, Franklin is still widening the table.
And this time, he is not asking permission to do it.
