::ALBUM REVIEW::

Hype can be a good thing, and sometimes it can be a bad thing. Lots of smoke began to evade the album release of Kirk Franklin's latest creation, God's Property, because of its incredible hit single, and the majority of the gospel music community responded and enjoyed. But if they only focused on the fire surrounding the smoke, they would have realized that Kirk Franklin may have dropped one of the most elaborate sets in the history of contemporary gospel music. This self-entitled experiment (1997) from Franklin focuses on an earthy, cutting-edge production from top producers (Buster & Shovani, Kevin Bond, Kirk Franklin) with banging beats on uptempo gems and fine embraces on a good dose of memorable ballads. Assertive musical framework from Bobby Sparks (keyboards), Jerome Harmon (organ), Shaun Martin (organ, keyboards) and Robert Searight (drums) play a vital role in making each represented cut sound as if they were tailormade to be radio hits. The end result is a complete project full of depth.......

Things opens with the party starter, "Stomp (Remix)", which is surrounded by an obvious sample from George Clinton's funky "One Nation Under A Groove". But with God's Property zesty chants bursting throughout the friendly rhythms, a cool rap from rap legend Cheryl "Salt" James and enough electric bass to revive the hearts of many funkateers, the song probably outshines any of Kirk's well-known cuts. The fiery, gospel-styled energies on "More Than I Can Bear" are definite reminders of Kirk's purest gospel roots - with its zealous organ swirls and the gutbucket traditional flares from GP's energetic vocals. An unexpected praise break is tagged towards the end of the cut; giving it the churchy spice it was begging for from the beginning. "So Good" is a hearty gospel production featuring the same commanding drive found on Franklin's popular churchy compositions ("Another Chance", "Silver And Gold"). "Love" is a beautifully-rendered ballad that concentrates on the poetic expressions from I Corinthians 13 and from Kirk's modern theological interpretation of it. Along with its smooth jazz background and well-constructed arrangements, "Love" is a listener's paradise. Myron Butler delivers a soulful solo on the gutsy-groovy "Faith", while incorporating Allen Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can" into the infectious vamp. Even the bonus cut, "He Will Take The Pain Away", deserves its share of heavy rotations even though it clocks close to almost nine minutes.

While the inclusion of the original mix of "Stomp" (which barely matches the funky spunk captured by the remix) and the omission of the radio-friendly mix of "You Are The Only One" kind of hurts the total completion here, "God's Property From Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation" is loaded with enough treats from all sides of the gospel spectrum. "Sweet Spirit" flows like a Jodeci cut - more like a midnight slow jam, while "It's Raining" captures the old school funk of James Brown brilliantly. Plus, "My Life Is In Your Hands", quoted by sources to be inspired from his 1996 stage accident, may be remembered mostly for its calm unison phrasing, Franklin's popular narrative skills and powerful build-up towards the end. This happens to be one of Franklin's well-known trademarks: "My Life Is In Your Hands" was where it all started.

Amazing to note that Franklin delivers the same intensity featured on his solo entries as he did here. That is a rarity for any particular artist to deliver the goods on someone else's adventure. There's no short-change from Franklin here - some of Kirk's strongest, colorful ballads are captured here. The album broke multiple records (3x platinum) within the gospel music industry and was a major success at the Grammy Awards; winning the Best Gospel Album By Choir or Chorus - it even was nominated for Best R&B Song. Sadly, this album also happens to be God's Property first and last recording as a group, but this historical document of musical brilliance is far from forgotten.