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There's a lot of really funky sampling throughout Hero—including the work of folks like Earth, Wind & Fire, some Tears for Fears andDeniece Williams. Talk about your decision to use these samples, and how it relates to that idea of Christ in the culture.

Franklin You know, that's basically it. I was influenced more by urban music than gospel, coming up as a kid. Gospel and Christian music were not a big part of my life until I got saved. Around the age of 15 or 16 I started getting influenced more by gospel music. So I'm not using anything that I don't enjoy myself.

In some ways, it feels like you're bringing these songs to church, or using the enjoyment factor that's already there.

Franklin Yeah, that's really what I'm trying to do—to use them as tools to try to win the world, and if God breathes on it, that's a great thing.

What was it like to work with Stevie Wonder?

Franklin When I finished writing "Why," it just felt very Stevie Wonder-ish. So I called him and said, "Stevie, I have a song that I want you to sing on." And he wanted to hear it. So I flew to Los Angeles to let him hear it, and he said that he liked it and wanted to be on it. It was incredible, just to record and actually produce Stevie Wonder.

You have your own label now, and have spoken about wanting to make music that is as unique as Motown music. That's a huge legacy. How do you do something like that?

Franklin You just make honest music. You don't get caught up in the corporate energy of music. You really try to develop artists and to not be consumed with a big roster as much as a small group of artists that you can groom and develop and nurture to have careers. The people that were on Motown, those were career artists.

How do you avoid getting caught up in the corporate energy of music?

Franklin I think there was a time where record companies were run by people who were musicians, who were producers, who were arrangers. That kind of person brings a totally different approach from someone who maybe graduated from college with a marketing degree or a finance degree. Those are not music people, and so they're only going to be concerned about the business of music, and not necessarily the music. That affects the creative element.

Because God uses me as a musician, I approach the business that way. That means if something isn't right, we're going to make sure it's right on the front end. We're not going to spend money trying to make something that doesn't sound right just because we've got to get an album out.

So, it's a question of musicianship versus salesmanship.

Franklin Yeah. You sign people who can sing, so that you don't have to spend money creating an image that is not built on talent.

Visit our site's artist page for Kirk Franklin to learn more about him, and click here to read our review of Hero. Please visit Christianbook.com to listen to sound clips and buy his music.

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