"I got a lot of criticism from a lot of Christians for working with Kanye," Kirk Franklin explains in a new documentary produced by MTV. "A lot of people questioned my integrity. Questioned my spirituality. Questioned my Christianity. It challenged me and it was very painful."
"Some people responded like I was out there twerking and cussing and turning up. But I'm doing me," the gospel musician responded. Using Kanye West as an example, he makes the point, "Who's to say that someone is so far that God's love can't grab them where they are? But we don't go get them because we don't want to leave the rules of the church?"
Outlining his reemergence in popular culture in 2016, the documentary also includes Franklin's comments on his opportunity to work with Chance The Rapper.
"I did Pitchfork [Music Festival] last year with Chance and we just kind of built a relationship from there. When I first heard that Chance The Rapper was somebody who even knew my music and knew who I was..." Franklin trails off. "I mean, he knew more about my music than I did. He talked about my influence on him, how he used to listen to my music when he was young in church, and how my music influences his music now."
"I didn't plan any of this," he continued, explaining that Kanye and Chance reached out to him on their own. "I didn't call Kanye, I didn't call Chance."
Watch the short documentary below and read MTV's full cover story with Franklin here.
