“Stomp” was the first gospel record MTV put on heavy rotation. Kirk Franklin built it on a Funkadelic groove

In 1997, MTV put a gospel song on heavy rotation for the first time. It opened with a sample from Funkadelic and a verse from one half of Salt-N-Pepa.

The song was “Stomp”, credited to God’s Property, a young Dallas choir, with Kirk Franklin, and in its remix version featuring Cheryl James, known as Salt. It charted on Billboard’s R&B airplay lists, crossed into mainstream radio and became one of the most successful gospel songs of the 1990s.

Kirk Franklin before Stomp

Franklin, born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1970, was raised by his great-aunt and was leading a church choir as a child. His 1993 debut with his group The Family, Kirk Franklin and the Family, was already a huge gospel success, with the hit “Why We Sing”. He had shown that gospel could sell to large audiences. “Stomp” showed it could compete with secular R&B and hip-hop on their own ground.

The sound

The remix was built on the funk of Funkadelic’s “One Nation Under a Groove”, with a new jack swing beat and hip-hop energy. Salt’s rap verse, a declaration of faith from one of the most famous women in hip-hop, gave it credibility with young listeners who would never have searched for a gospel record. Franklin’s voice, calling out to the choir and the listener, turned it into a party record with a sermon inside.

The song appeared on the album God’s Property from Kirk Franklin’s Nu Nation, which became one of the best-selling albums in gospel history.

The argument

Not everyone in the church was happy. Some gospel traditionalists criticised Franklin for bringing secular beats, samples and hip-hop into sacred music. They worried that the message would be lost in the groove, and that gospel was being turned into entertainment.

Franklin’s answer, repeated over the years, was that he wanted to reach young people where they were: in clubs, on the radio and on MTV as well as in church. The debate over gospel and hip-hop has continued ever since, but his approach has largely won.

What it opened

“Stomp” opened the door for a generation of artists who mixed gospel with hip-hop, R&B and pop. Artists from Mary Mary to Lecrae to Chance the Rapper have drawn on the path Franklin cut. In Africa too, gospel acts who blend worship with Afrobeats and hiplife owe something to the idea that gospel can sound like the music young people already love.

Franklin went on to win many Grammy Awards and remains one of the most influential figures in gospel.

The Funkadelic groove was about a nation under a groove. Franklin rewrote the invitation: the nation he was calling was a church, and he wanted the whole club to join it.