Writing and producing the "Kingdom Come" soundtrack, multiple Stellar awards ,three NAACP Image Awards, best selling Gospel artist with over 10 million albums sold in a short 9 years, a published autobiography, "Church Boy: My Music and My Life" (Word Publishing), and now "The Rebirth" goes gold in just three weeks! I think it's pretty easy to see where a mortal human being can be distracted by the heart of it all. To Kirk Franklin this is what "The Rebirth" is about. Getting back to the heart of it all, a grounding call to revert to the inner child who sings for God and not success.

"The Rebirth" was recorded mostly live at Houston's Lakewood Church, with a few studio tracks added. It includes many guest appearances by artists such as Pastor Shirley Caesar, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Donnie McClurkin, Crystal Lewis, Jaci Velasquez, Papa San, Richard Smallwood, Alvin Slaughter, toby mac, and the late Willie Neal Johnson. Franklin directs this all encompassing group in some fiery gospel. The best example of this is "He Reigns," with Papa San. The tune is set to a latin theme, and the chorus takes some verses from "Awesome God" by the late Rich Mullin's.

The big catch though is the spoken dialogue between Kirk Franklin and Bishop T.D. Jakes on "911." A dialogue that confronts the fears and spiritual doubts felt after the September 11, 2001 tragedies. This pairing has done two things for Franklin as I see it; first, I can't help but believe it's driving the sales, and secondly, it helps to bring some validity to the project. One complaint from a former Franklin fan was that some of his previous guests were not so "anointed", and in turn the spirit of the music was affected.

My favorite was the bonus track "Throw Your Hands Up", a duo with DC Talk's tobymac. "Throw Your Hands Up" is an extremely intense rap that rocks. The arrangement, opera style crescendo background, and the intensity of the Franklin-mac rap is energizing.

All together it's a triumphant rebirth, worthy of the pretty penny it cost to pick up.

- Ken W.