Club Shay Shay - Kirk Franklin Part 2

Episode Date: December 13, 2023

Kirk Franklin shares how he receives 0 royalties on his hit songs from the 90s and why he hasn't worked to repair his relationship with his mom. Kirk Franklin opens up about discovering his biological father at the age of 53 and his intricate relationship with his own son. The episode takes a turn into the world of celebrity parenting, with reflections on TI and his son, coupled with Franklin's unique perspective on dating. He answers the age-old question: Should relationships be 50/50? The interview concludes with a heartfelt prayer, leaving listeners with a profound blend of laughter, contemplation, and inspiration. It's a Club Shay Shay episode that transcends entertainment, offering a genuine and intimate glimpse into the life and reflections of a musical legend. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Make sure to listen to the Good Morning Football podcast Monday through Friday on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast. You heard that right. the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week, we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment

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She told him no. What? Yeah. You were going to be able to make money as a child? Mm-hmm. And she turned it down? She turned it down. She turned it down.

It's probably the best thing for me i mean you know getting getting introduced that young and not having context and covering yeah it probably would have been you think the contract was bad or she just didn't think you was ready for that at that age that i just wasn't ready for it at that age yeah i don't even think that the contract even got to the deal part, right? It was just like no Yeah, especially once again anything outside of a church mindset right was considered worldly Yeah, so let me ask you this have you signed bad contracts because at night seven-year-old you had someone a representative

adult now you go into it and you're your own you you're your kind of your own boss. And how does Kurt like differentiate between a good deal and a bad deal? What has to be it for it to be a good deal? What needs to be? Let me jump in. You ain't even got finished. My very first recording contract at 23 years old, the label I signed with, they took 100% of my publishing. Huh? 100% of my publishing. How you let that happen? Because I didn't really know any better.

The people that had represented me didn't know. It was new for everyone. I didn't know what an entertainment attorney was. The attorney that I had was probably like a real estate attorney. Didn't really know who to reach out to. This was 1993. I'm living in Texas. It's not an entertainment space. And then gospel music has never been privy to a lot of agents and attorneys and representatives and managers. That's not the ecosystem that gospel music has always matriculated through. And so we didn't have a lot of

professionals in our space to be able to try to gather information. And they took 100% of my public. So you got got. I got got early on, early on. I'm old enough now where a lot of the copyright laws, they now revert back to me. Right. And then, so that's a blessing, because after 30, 35 years, there's this reversion process. Right. And so, but yeah, but no, most of my deals early on were all bad deals. I just wanted to do music.

Right. And it came back to bite me. Early on, you were signed to Interscope. Interscope, one of this major subsidiaries up underneath it was Death Row. Yeah. Which was mainly hip-hop. Yeah, yeah, yeah. you were signed to Interscope, Interscope, one of this major subsidiaries up underneath it was Death Row. Yeah. It was mainly hip hop. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, beautiful. That was beautiful. Beautiful. Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine coming to see me in concert at Six Flags, the Magic Mountain out here. Right. Yeah. You know, just beautiful, man, to be around

so much talent, to have Jimmy Iovine say, hey, I'm going to send a plane for you to go to Dublin so we can record Bono and to work with all these different people. It was great. Jimmy Iovine, I owe a lot to him in my career because he's one of the greatest and he really, really, really took a liking to what I was doing and really gave me opportunities that couldn't have come without my relationship with him. God using my relationship with him. What made you start your own record label? It's because I saw young talent around me. I wanted to curate younger talent that could continue the message and the conversation. I probably would never do a label again until I probably retire. It's because it's very hard to separate yourself as an artist and as an owner of a label because

everyone you sign, understandably, they think that the access you have should be the access that they have. Right. And so it probably won't be until i fully retire that i'll probably do another label again well how different is the industry in gospel today than it was when you started in the 90s it's in a rough place it's in a very rough place because um art is going to always reflect where life is. I think that the decline of organized religion in America, the rise of secularism and the deconstruction of conversations of faith and spirituality have all added to the decline of people's engagement and people's interest in the music. People don't go to church like they used to.

People don't engage. You go online. Yeah, yeah. And then even then, when you go online, it's almost like room noise. Yes, because you're doing other things. You're doing other things. You're cooking. You're cooking.

You're cleaning. And you're church hopping. He ain't saying something. You're enjoying. You put another church in. So it's like now it's like a church buffet, right? And so if people are going to be engaging with God in that space, then I could be going listening to the music.

And then if they do listen to the music, they're going to listen to something from way back, songs from back in the 90s or the 80s, early 2000s. They're not going to go discover the new artists. And so it's something that is a great concern for me. And then also the greatest concern, I'm going to tell you the greatest concern, King, the greatest concern is that you've got a generation of younger gospel artists that saw how the church killed and crucified and judged a lot of the older people or artists that

were before them. And their mindset is, I'm not going to do gospel music because y'all eat your own. Right. So judgmental, so critical, so mean that why would I give myself to something that's so toxic? Right. And so you have a whole nother generation of young Christians that are not like, I ain't doing that. I'm going to go over here and do this other kind of music and still love God. Deuces. And so we are really trying to rewrite the conversations

as best as we can to make people feel comfortable that this is a place for broken people and it's not a place for Jesus juniors. The radio era, kind of like what you came into versus the streaming era, is kind of where we're heading if we're not already there. We're there. What's your take on that? We're there.

I think that for this genre of music, it can be also very difficult because as the audience ages out and the younger audience is not really listening to music about gospel music and about God and faith like they used to, about gospel music and about God and faith like they used to, then if the only way that people can get the content is just through streaming, then we're having a harder time getting the conversation about that this is available. That is because where is a show? Think about it. Think about it, man. A song as big as Take Me to the King and somebody like you, a black man, a successful black man that was raised in church, you never heard the song. So that means for me, there's so much work to be done because I'm sitting again with an NFL legend who just off the top of his dome is not privy to Fred Hammond music, John P. Key music. So those things for me, It's like there's so much work to do

Right, but I want to do it. I want to do the work, right? I'm committed because I am the biggest fan of gospel music, right? How does Kirk Franklin becomes a become a choir director at 11 making 25 books don't make no sense I shouldn't been doing it don't make no sense. I should have been doing it don't make no sense They shouldn't have had me I don't know and and there was stupid of them to do that stupid and them do that I was 11 years old, but I but but I had $25 a week, bro Do you know the lemon hairs and Chico's?

With 20 with $25 a week how receptive were the adults because your Because you're a kid. I'm a kid. And you're leading adults. I'm leading adults. But one thing, remember what we talked about as a little boy, I would do anything to be liked. Right. So my personality, whatever charisma you want to call it, whatever, my little energy, they just thought I was a cute little thing. And then also, whatever I was teaching, it was correct. Right. You know, if I was teaching

a soprano part, it was correct. My voice may have been high. Right. You know what I'm saying? And you may not have been able to see me, you know what I'm saying?

But I'm doing it the right way. Right. And so I got the job. And I stayed at that church from age 12 to age 17. So are you like a coach or general manager because you as a choir director you got a book okay we got to make sure this be the sopranos and alto's and mazes and the baritone how did how did I mean as a child how do

you like navigate that without stepping like you a kid you don't know but the thing was i didn't know did they know you know did they know that you knew because sometimes it's hard receiving information from someone that's younger than you in that context they knew that i knew better than them okay and i knew more than they did okay because no one else could come and remove me from that seat and do the job better at that time so they had to acquiesce to what the little 25 year old bad jerry curl you know little boy was teaching him it's because you can argue that the part was right so what was the audition process like for to become a member of your choir oh my choir yeah you know i never did auditions for people that sang with me.

It's that it was always just relationships. If I met somebody and we connected and it just felt right and their voice was warm enough to be able to have the conversation and they felt connected to the music I was doing, I've been blessed to work with some of the greatest singers in the world and was never through auditions. We did was, it's always been through relationship. Because you are who you are,

have you had to deal with any jealousy within your own group? Because you are the face, no matter how great they sing or how great they sound, you're you. I think that I'm always trying to put myself in a position that I want people to feel like that we're in this together I'm always trying to be intentional just about the village and so um you know I'm and and I'm quite sure that there have been times that I've also done things that really piss people off around me too right so you know it I have to take responsibilities for times that maybe I did get caught up or that i did start smelling myself you know i mean when you're young and getting a

lot of attention you don't always know how to handle how do you pull back because like you said you did have so much commercial success you are who you are everybody knows you you're universally regarded as one of the the greatest gospel singers of your directors and singers of your era. So how do you pull that back? How do you like, yeah, I'm, I'm, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm feeling myself. Yeah. I'm doing too much over here. You know, man, it's, I really, as imperfect as I am, Shannon, as, as, as Florida's I am Shannon at the end of the day, my love, my mad love. And then maybe it came because I didn't have a daddy, because I didn't have a mama, because I didn't have no family. As a little boy, my relationship with the Lord was a real thing for me as a little boy.

I was climbing on top of the roof having conversations with God as a little five, six-year-old boy. I was writing love songs to him as a five, six year old boy. And so that was really instilled in me early on. So wanting to make him happy, wanting to make him proud of me and wanting to try my best to live in ways to please him. So when I do smell myself or when I do get a look hard up, I know that that can be disappointing in my relationship with me and him. So I'm always wanting to check it. I'm always wanting to acknowledge it is because how he feels about me and how he sees me. It's like everything to me. Right. Let's talk about where

you're from. You're from Fort Worth, Texas, 76104. I read an article that says 76104 has the lowest life expectancy of any zip code in Texas. Oh, wow. So I want to know that. That's why I see I got the card and I get to ask a question. But in all honesty, what was it like for you growing up in Fort Worth? You know, there was a liquor store around the corner. You know, there were prostitutes at this pool shack right across the street

that we went to go play pool in. You know, we didn't have a lot of adult supervision in the summertime. So it was a lot of hide and go get it. You know what I'm saying? A lot of, just a lot of inappropriate ways of trying to learn love, you know what I mean? Because you didn't get it the right way. So there were a lot of barriers and then there was church. So you got this smorgasbord of experiences that are now clashing. And so it could be very difficult,

you know? And then, you know, when you're raised in these marginalized communities, a lot of single home families, the mom are not happy that she's single and working two jobs. So she mad and mean. So, you know, you also raise around a lot of mean and mad parents. You know, the adults always seem. Don't you remember that when you were young? Everybody seemed mean and mad. Right. Everybody was mean and mad. Right. Everybody was mean and mad. So you develop that in that energy.

So you never feel like that. You're one of yours to like you're in the way. Right. Help me out with this. You were adopted. Was it your biological aunt or was it a family friend that you referred to as your aunt at the age of four? She was. I don't believe she was biologically related to me. But that's what people... Because other people call her Aunt Gertie.

It just became natural for people to think she was my aunt. But she legally... She was a lady that legally adopted me. She took me in because she knew of my biological mother. Legally changed my name. I was born Kirk Mathis and she changed my name to Kirk Franklin when I was four. And she was a widow. Do you remember this transition in your life?

No. There's never a time in my life that I didn't know that I wasn't adopted. I've always known that I was adopted. So when I came on the planet and ever had any level of consciousness, I knew from that day that I was always adopted. Did you know your biological mom? And I think that's the trauma. The trauma is in most environments when kids are adopted, they're in these systems. So they don't know who their biological parents are. They know that they are given away, which is already a womb, but then another family takes them in. So at least the womb gets to heal.

Yeah. But in these marginalized communities, it ain't nothing for your biological mama. Ain't there something to come through, but they've new boyfriend, you know, to pull up and maybe three or four times a year. So every time they come and leave,

it's ripping that off. So you never get a chance to heal. So you, you're always living with these open wounds so you know you knew who your mom was oh god yes so when she would come around was there any kind of interaction with you did you like mom you know did she take you to did you try to get your mom to take you to the store by candy, by cookies, by pop? Or was there any interaction with her and you? You know, there were moments where maybe, you know, she would tell me to go get a hamburger. Or maybe there were moments, you know, that she would bring a soda around the house or whatever.

But for the most part, she would make promises and wouldn't keep them. Right. Because I got a half-sister. She had a daughter. And so sometimes she wasn't raised with me but when she was around me there were times that we would wait for her to come pick us up and she didn't she'd make promises take us to the fair you know and so i remember you know living with a lot of broken promises how did how did i'm just help me understand maybe you don't even know the answer to this. How did the woman, Aunt Gertie, that ended up adopting you? How did this come to be? Did you were her and your mom friends or how did that how did that how did that happen?

My mother was the niece. My mother was the daughter of somebody that she knew. I don't know if they're related or not, but my mother's mother died. And when my mother's mother died, Aunt Gertie kind of played a bigger role in Deborah's life. Deborah's my biological mother. Right. And so when Deborah got pregnant with me, she no longer, she didn't want to be a mother. She was 15. Right.

Something like that. She didn't want to raise the child. And so she gave, she allowed Gertrude to adopt me. Right. And so that's how they knew each other. They knew each other through somebody that was related to somebody. Wow. Yeah.

And so that's how I got to Aunt Gertie. Have you ever been able to heal? Have you gotten therapy for that trauma because you know that aunt gertie is not your biological mom yeah you see your biological mom from time to time yeah and the connection is not there aunt gertie gave you something your biological mother either couldn't or wouldn't give you at the time which is is love. Now, love in our community back then meant something different. It wasn't hugging and kissing. You got a roof over your head.

You got clothes. You got food. That's love. That's love. But Aunt Gertie gave you something that your biological mom either couldn't or didn't. Yeah. How had that shaped you into the person, the man that you are today? Have you how have that shaped you into the person, the man that you are today?

Well, I don't know if you're aware of this recent situation of me finding the same thing about my father this year. I was going to go there. I hadn't talked to my mother in over 23 years before the situation. Your biological mother. Yeah. Gertrude died 33 years ago. OK, so Gertrude died when I was 20. OK. Yeah, I found Gertrude in her bed sleep. Oh I found Gertrude. Well the the the the the fireman found her in her bed at night sleep and she Transition yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and so Deborah and I had not had a relationship Because what started to happen with Deborah and even the man on my life, I thought was my father.

And because I met him when I was six and then see him again till I was 13 and then see him again until my career took off. And then Deborah and Dwight, the man who I thought was my biological father, they started showing up at concerts. And that pissed me off. Right. It really angered me. And so I wanted nothing to do with me what I didn't have. Now I have. You want everything to do with back then.

You didn't want me. You know what I'm saying? Mike was Mike Jones. Yeah. Mike, who you didn't know me. Who? Who? Yeah.

So, you know, it it it was very painful for me. And so up up up until this year, I hadn't talked to Deborah and over. I haven't seen talk to Deborah in over 23 years. So how did the conversation come to be that Dwight wasn't your biological father at a funeral this year? There was there was had at a church there's a young lady that sings in my group whose dad was a pastor at church okay the funeral was for a lady who is my aunt she's the sister of deborah okay i didn't go to the funeral because i knew deborah would be there so i didn't go okay at the funeral, and I'm telling you everything I was told, at the funeral, there was a guy there who was close friends to the pastor. That guy's name is Rick. Rick went to the funeral because the lady that died was a member of that church.

When Deborah, my biological mother, was at the funeral as well. It was said that Rick said to the pastor Oh, I didn't know that Deborah and the young lady that died that they were sisters and then he goes on to say I Used to mess around with Deborah when I was a kid He said that in the church he said it. Oh You ain't been a black church anyway Yeah, yeah, yeah you need to start ain't been to black church in a while, have you? Yeah, but they don't normally share secrets like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You need to start coming on back to black.

No, I better not go back there. They might share some of my secrets. I ain't going over there. I ain't going over there. So, yes, he said that at this funeral. And so when he said that, do you know? And at that funeral, when he said that, everybody looks at him and says, you know, that's Kirk Franklin's biological mother. It's like, oh, do you know Kirk Franklin's like, yeah, I've heard the name. I've heard the name.

And so now they're looking at him his height his ears his hands eat his beef a little bit more all right right now yeah yeah yeah yeah so and so he now is being observed by everybody oh and so now the rumor mill starts to happen. And so it gets to Deborah's attention that this church and this community is not talking. Deborah finds my number. I have a Google number. And Deborah finds that Google number from somebody, leaves a message. I hadn't heard a voice in 23 years, traumatized by her voice. She said, hey, this is Deborah. I want you to know that I hear about the rumor that's being spread around. Rick is not your father. You know who your father was. He died. And I'm not going to let that be a lie that they tell you. Mr. Rick, because of the commotion on

his own, he gets swapped and gives the swaps to my friend that sings with me and says, hey, everybody's running their mouth. I don't know. I do know that I did data. I do know y'all are looking at me crazy right now. Here, give these to Kirk. If Kirk got any questions, he can go get these tested. If he has questions, well, of course I can sit on that.

Yeah, yeah, see, I know you. He knew you. He knew because he probably inquisitive himself. Knowing that you're going to be inquisitive, you got to do it. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here. Just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't

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or wherever you get your podcasts. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football,

the search for meaning away from the gridiron and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You just got to, don't you? You couldn't. You couldn't sleep at night, not knowing.

Yeah, so I got swabbed. Yeah. And he's your dad. He's my father. Shook my world. It has shaken my world, even now. I'm still shooketh i'm still in the middle of the uh the the impact of that car wreck but and deborah still denies it and we took another dna test for her and she still denies it to this very day. I have not talked to her since.

It's funny, though. To this day, you still refer to her as Deborah, not mom. You refer to Rick as Rick. Mr. Rick. I call him Mr. Rick. It's because he's a good guy. He didn't know. So it's not on him.

But what people need to understand is because, you know, one thing that has been very hard for me, and I'll be honest with you, Mr. Shannon, it is very hard for me when when people come in and go, oh, this is so beautiful. This is a beautiful thing. You are united with your father. Beautiful. I need for people to understand. I'm 53 years old. I wasn't looking for a daddy. Right. He wasn't looking for a son. Right. for a daddy right he wasn't looking for a son right do you know how much deconstructing it takes to live your whole life knowing who you believe your daddy to be and you hated him and so now that you get this information you just go oh well let me turn that off hi dad right it's like just because you're introduced to love doesn't mean that you know how to receive it right especially when you have lived a lie and people don't even understand also the power a mother has over a child

the fact that my mama ain't been in my life but still denying me that truth that impacts the way that i can embrace and still even move through this process do you think she knew that mr rick was your father instead of Dwight? I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to keep it a buck with you, King. You know, if we're not going to even start the cap, I was looking at everybody crazy because it's a small

community. Ain't nobody know. Ain't nobody know. And the man that I thought was my father, his family, no Mr. Rick but just because they know of Kirk that don't mean that they knew that Mr. Rick had some type of relationship that exactly is true that exactly is true I'm saying though when you grow up in these spaces of not knowing right what's what you start to look at everybody like crazy because the bottom line is the baby got

dropped. Yeah. The baby got dropped. So in other words, you're like, I'm 53 years of age. I wasn't looking for a father. He wasn't looking for a son because when I was looking for a father, he wasn't looking for a son. Yes. And so now it is too, it's not that it's too late. I am just having to deconstruct everything. And how do you undo 50 plus years, though, Kurt? Say what? How do you undo 53 plus years? It's hell. It's hell. It's hell. My my therapist, Bill, is out the war. Yeah. Say something. Let me tell you something. I could probably buy a whole a whole new children's wardrobe for for what's happening with my therapy bill. But but but but I do want to say, though, Mr. Rick is a good guy. He's a good dude. He's a good dude. And and and what I love the most about him, he keeps saying, go at your pace.

He said, it's all about you. And I'm in therapy and i'm walking it out and i'm i'm trying to process it and you know i'll be honest with you it breaks my heart that my mama still ain't called me through this it breaks my heart bro documentaries come out i ain't i ain't even heard from my mama you know and it's it's amazing the impact mama's having that That's the heal. That's the wound that has to heal. Yeah. Not Mr. Rick. Yeah. Not Mr. Dwight this past.

That's the wound. Yeah. That the salve needs to be spread on. Yeah. So it can heal. Yeah. Have you thought about having a conversation? Have you thought about having therapy with your mom?

Because I think you guys, there's some things that you need to hear from her there's some things she needs to hear from you but it needs to be in a controlled setting maybe someday i don't know i don't i don't know and i'm okay to say i don't know i'm okay to say that i don't have the answers i don't know have you I'm okay to say I don't know. I'm okay to say that I don't have the answers. I don't know. Have you thought about opening the door first? Because I think deep down, Kurt, I think you're warning her to take that step. Because she was the adult.

She did what she did. She gave you a way. Because at a young age, you say she was about 15. That's asking an awful lot for a 15-year-old to take the responsibility. Because a 15-year-old can barely the responsibility because a 15-year-old can barely take care of themselves, let alone another body. Yeah, yeah. I think, Kurt, you would get

so much more if you took that first step, if you opened that door. You know, there's a great fear, too, of opening up that door because you don't know. The unknown. The unknown.

We fear what we don't know. Yeah. And the fact that there were two tests that she denies. Kurt, you have to understand, when someone is told a lie for so long. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She told you this lie for 50 plus years. You think that after. Fair, fair.

You could. Fair. I mean, people will tell you a lie tomorrow all and they just and they'll keep telling that lie because they believe repetition of a lie will make it the truth fair fair fair so when you're on are there any point when you're alone and you're sitting at home they feel like you, you know what? I need to do this. It's because it's not for her. At this point in time, nothing you do is for her. It's for you.

I think that when I'm alone right now, what I sit with, it's because the truth is, this happened when I was working on the album. Yes. And then the album came out, and then the tour. So I've been blessed to be busy.

Right. And so now that the tour just ended last week, I'm having to sit in a little bit more than I've had to. So when I'm sitting now by myself, I think it's also more of ain't this some...

You know, it's I can't believe this has really happened. I think the reality of what has happened is hitting me more now than ever before because I was blessed to stay busy. Because if I wasn't busy, I probably would have lost it. Yeah. You know what I mean? I probably would have lost it.

Do you believe that she started to come back around along with the person you believe to be your biological father? They wanted something? They found out what you had become, who you had become. Back years ago? Yes. When Debra, that's how it made me feel. It's because she was not in my life. Right.

Even when I was homeless, sleeping in my car and didn't have food as a young 19, 20-year-old man. Nobody was around. Nobody was looking out for me. Nobody checked on me. Did you know where you were at that age? It's Fort Worth, Texas. I'm not hard to find. And I was living in a house that Gertrude died in. Okay. So I'm where everybody know I'm at. I'm playing at the same churches. So I'm not hard to find. But you know what though? And at the same time, so I'm not hard to find. But you know what, though? And at the same time, I do want to say this, man. This is not about bashing a black woman. I don't want it to even come across like I'm on your show and there's a vengeance that I have for what my mother did.

We don't know what she went through. Right. We don't know the pains in life that she had. We don't even know maybe what all the things she suppressed. I don't know. Right. We don't know the pains in life that she had. We don't even know maybe what all the things she suppressed I don't know right all I know is that for me in my life. It's been turned upside down. It's been Like I give you something that you can start to struggle with to man like Can I keep it up? Keep it above? I've even had my struggles with God. I've had my private struggles with God because I am a Christian that believes in the sovereignty of God.

Means that I believe that everything God allows or God creates. That nothing passes to us that doesn't go through God's hands first. That God can either stop things or God allows things for a greater reason. I humbly believe that. That's my humble biblical view of the sovereignty of God. So God and his sovereign plan allowed me to be raised without my daddy. And my daddy lived 10 minutes from me, the majority of my life, not having a dad. We know what the stats say. The stats will say a young child raised with his

father and mother has a better chance of survival. We all know the stats, right The stats will say a young child raised with his father and mother has a better chance of survival. Absolutely. We all know the stats, right? Yes. So not having a child, not having a father, I got into a lot of trouble, learned a lot of

inappropriate ways of survival with women and sexuality and different things and made a lot of mistakes, you know, to develop a lot

of bad habits. Now, mind you, Mr. Rick was a kid himself. Right. He was a kid himself. He was a kid himself. But I didn't have a dad. God in a sovereign plan allowed that to stay away. In that, I developed some bad ways without having a male figure in my life.

A mother figure, male figure in my life. And some of those ways, when I became a Christian, now God calls those things sin. But in his plan, he kept some things away that could have helped some things not turn into these bad sins that I struggle with. Does that make sense? Yes. So now there are things in me that God don't like, but also the things that he allowed. He helped. So I've had my own private life. And this is the first time I've ever said this, but I've never said this before.

And God, me and God have had strong. And somebody would say, well, you don't know what kind of man Mr. Rick was. You know, he could have been a bad influence. You don't know what kind of man Mr. Rick could have been if he had a response, if he would have had a responsibility of having a son. Because me and you as men know them kids grow you up. and there's certain things that you got are now yeah you know yeah we don't know and i'm not saying that i know i'm just being transparent to say i've privately struggled i've had my war like i'm quite sure everybody listening to me if you've never had anything you are like god why you take my mama god why you do this if you've never had a war with god you ain't never had no relationship with god right because if you got a relationship with god you've never had anything, you are like, God, why you take my mama? God, why you do this? If you've never had a war with God, you ain't never had no relationship with God.

Right. Because if you've got a relationship with God, you've had some wars with it. Of course, there have been questions. Yes, sir. Dude, man, that's to know that that that private struggle. But at the time, as you were growing up, you're for this transition. And so now you're 10. Now you're 15.

You're 20. Did any of that, was that going through your mind at the time that my dad's not here, my mom, whatever reason she was. But I do have Miss Gertrude, our Gertrude, that's doing the best that she can. She was 64 years old. She was a widow. And by the time I'm 13, she's 73. She is a 73- a widow and and by the time i'm 13 she's 73 she is a 73 year old woman by the time i'm 13 years old 13 year old she can't do nothing she can't she can't do nothing with me right she's sleeping at 6 30 you out the house listen sleep

listen right after price is right you remember price is right i do yes i do but You were a president, right? I do. Yes, I do. But so let me ask you this. You are very public man. And even as a public figure myself, I try to live a private life. And a lot of times things that we go through via family gets played out. Yeah. Yeah. We see T.I. and his son have a little situation and seemingly they work it out uh i think a couple of years ago you had had an issue with your son yes does it make you wish sometime that damn man i wish i was i wish i was a private citizen all day every day all day every day it's even changed how i even post on social media like i used to post my family a lot but over the last year or so i've even kind of struggled with that more you know and it's been hard because you know um i could see how people

would attack my kids you know uh they would they would they would say cruel things or or even also living up to the expectation like one thing that i started to hate if i can be if i give it a buck is i hate this whole couple goals when people see you with your spouse whatever and and they become goals right it's like I'm not a couple when everybody's goal should be we should be trying to be like him instead of trying to be like each other because we're gonna let you down Kirk gonna let you down I'm trying to point you to and then also how can I be a couple goal for you? What all you are seeing is the post right? You're not seeing the life, right?

You judging what you want on the post people seem to think Public means perfect. Yes Yes, and that's what social media has a has warped a lot of yes mine Because they see people getting on a private jet even though they're just they might have rented that they might have rented that just for that shot just for that shot yeah they rented the cars yes and so now they've they've associated public with perfect yeah well kirk's married he you don't know the private you know nothing kirk and his wife goes yeah yeah in order to just get to the next day. Or even the hell that

Kirk takes his wife through. Correct. You know what I'm saying? Or the hell that Kirk takes his kid through because I'm not going to sit up here and ever say to anyone that I am this dude that loved Jesus that's got it all together. Brother, I am a patient in the hospital every day. Every day I'm in my hospital bed trying to see the doctor. And I think historically Christians have always postured themselves as we've got to ask like, like, like where the doctor's like. Right. Brother Shannon, you need prayer and we're here to help you, brother. Right. Whatever we can do for you. And it's like, first of all, first of all, why we be whispering when we talk to people? Why Christians whisper? Yeah. Because you don't want nobody to hear.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's my point, though. That's my point. Bro, you're not no doctor. You're in a hospital bed next to me. And and I think that that's why so many people have been turned off. So I want people to know, bro, I'm in the bed next to you telling you what the doctor did for me right and if he did it for me he can do it for you right as a child going through what you went through how did that impact your learning i had a learning disorder is i had adhd but in the 80s you know you're just considered dumb yeah and i had one of my kids, one of my... Oh, you bad, they put, they, they, they...

Yeah, all of that, all of that. And I was all of that, until I got to music class, until I got to drama class, until I got to band class, and I was good. And so, it wasn't until one of my kids got diagnosed. And when you go through that process, you're like, that's me. So I had a lot of learning disorders. But what's been amazing is that I've been able to live vicariously through a lot of... I surrounded myself with very strong, academically committed people. And their level of scholarship, I was able to live

vicariously through their hard work. And so I became a student of everything religion politics science just like world issues and so I became very very intentional about being around people that were much much much better than me did you have friends in high school do you have a lot of friends I didn't have a lot of friends in high school I had a lot of girls that I was friends with yeah yeah I was a lot of you know a lot of friends? I didn't have a lot of friends in high school. I had a lot of girls that I was friends with. Yeah. Yeah. I was a lot of, you know, a lot of girls, but, but, but, but again, through therapy, I've learned that was a lot of my mama issues. A lot of mom issues. You wanted comfort. You wanted from a female. Yeah, buddy. Yeah, buddy. Yes. Yes. I work. Yeah. Unfortunately, unfortunately, I work better with females.

I love to this day. To this day. I love female leadership. I love female leaders. I'm just there's something very comforting about the the ideation, the execution of how women maneuver in business and in spaces is because I think that there's a level of intentionality that they bring to the equation. And I just believe them to be more pragmatic. Right. And so I am a fan. I'm such a fan of women and women leadership. High school, what was high school like? Were you a good student? Girls. Well, I don't know if anybody go to school for girls I mean they you did I'm what were the grades like

my grades were bad except for music drama and band I failed my freshman year I failed my freshman year I went to summer school that summer and found out how many girls were at summer school. Man, there you go, Kirk, man. And I failed summer school. I failed summer school because of the girls. Hold on. You failed your freshman year. And then failed summer school because girls. Girls. Oh, I was girl crazy. Girls. Okay. And I would fall in love quick. girl crazy girls okay so and i would fall in love quick oh i fall in love so quick so well it was it was it was it was a blend but i was the kind of guy that loved the idea of love oh well i'm gonna blend some of this some of this water with some of the cognac what that do? What does that do to warm the cognac?

It opens it up. Oh, does it? Yeah, yeah. Now, now, now, now, is cognac what you use in hot toddies? Yeah. Okay. As I've had a good, Gertrude can make a hot toddy. Yeah, that's right.

Boy, whatever cold, whatever situation you had, boy, you wake up a new little boy boy would it seem like me you've been more like hot tanya shout out to tanya hall she was my second great crush tanya hall was my second great crush shout out to t Hall. Man. You said you had a friend that kind of changed your life. Shifted the trajectory of my entire life. Is that when you became this version of what we see today? The version. Or the path to becoming what we see today? Yes.

It's because he was the good guy. I was the bad guy. I was the guy smoking, drinking, wilding out, having premarital sex. He was the church guy. He was good. He was the bad guy i was the guy smoking drinking while and now having premarital sex he was the church guy oh he was good he was a good guy could sing was at church every day he was dick he was he was digging in his closet on a monday morning after a church concert that his church did because he wanted to record the concert on a blank vhs right digging in the closet a gun fell out of the top of the closet fell on the ground shot, shot and killed him. Summer of 1985, Eric Pounds changed my life. That summer, I got on my knees and asked Jesus to come into my heart and I knew something had changed. I'm not perfect,

hadn't been perfect, but I knew something in me shifted. Right. Yeah. You were a young father. You got a young lady pregnant at the age of 17. Yeah. Yeah. How did that change your life? Very embarrassing. I was very, very embarrassing because, again, raised in church. I was embarrassed for the shame I brought upon her life. I was shamed because I was always reminded of my wrong. Because then, you know, these these these these things you cannot wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes.

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Whether you're a football fanatic or you just enjoy a good laugh, make sure to listen to the Good Morning Football podcast Monday through Friday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest

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I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Because the church was such a framework of the community. Correct. So whatever happened in the church, everybody knew. Everybody knew. Yeah. And so it was very difficult.

Gertrude kicked me out. I had to go sleep on some couches because Gertrude's old school. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You got to get out of here because you're grown. You couldn't shack up. And you couldn't shack up. So I was living in my car and sleeping on people's couches, you know, just living everywhere. Right. You know, I had a trash bag full of clothes that I would keep in the back of the church. I had a trash bag full of clothes that I would keep in the back of the church. So I would go to church on Sunday mornings, wash up in the men's restroom and put on something from that bag to play because that was my job. I played at church and then I put my clothes back in that trash bag. Did your son live with you or did he live with his mom?

He lived with me some. He lived with her. He lived with his grandparents sometimes because she lived with her parents for a minute. But there was never a time that I wasn't in his life. I was constantly in his life. I was there. I didn't have nothing, but I was there. Was it because you wanted to be what you never had in the past? That's it.

That is it. That is it, no doubt. And then he was cute. He was just cute as hell. He was a beautiful little baby. And it was cute. He was just cute as hell. He was a beautiful little baby and it was funny And so, you know, I I just never want him to feel what I felt never want him to experience I mean you're hey you are like 34. You got a 17 year old Yeah, he's like and people like hey

That's your brother. No, that's my son and and I'm sure he was the homie I'll never forget when my first album came out. I was 25 years old. And I was, no, no, no. Well, I was 23, but around about 25, I was at an event signing autographs. Right. Look down, he's signing girls' autographs. That's the homie.

That's the homie. And he's so smart, man. Carry On is brilliant. Right. Carry On is brilliant. And I love him i i deeply love him we talked about the social media how different do you think your life or our lives would be as a whole if there was no social media

it's i think that it's the dichotomy of social media is is i think that it's the dichotomy of social media. I think that it's the yin and the yang because it has done also a lot of good. It has brought a the level of commentary that they try to commit to or to contribute to has also made it very problematic for individuals. A lot of shaming that happens on different platforms. And so I think that it's almost, if I can be honest, I think that even the conversation is sometimes a mute conversation because it ain't going nowhere. Right.

We just have to try to be intentional about how we monitor our own souls and our own mental health in these spaces because the space is just going to continue to grow. And the voices and opinions of others are just going to continue to grow as well. You know what? I got a couple of questions for you and you, that person, to ask. What are your thoughts on 50-50 relationships? What does that mean, 50-50 relationships? You pay half, I pay half.

I'm old school. See, that's me. I'm old school. I'm going to pay for everything. Oh. But, hold on, if you pay for everything, are you expecting old school values in a new school woman?

Because that's not how they're wired. But they can be. I think that every woman would would would be grateful for a man to step up and take leadership in the right way. The problem is the lack of love, compassion and the lack of still having a voice in your significant other is something the thing that we as men fail at is because there is this authoritarian mindset that we must consider that we must acquiesce to at times because there's a wisdom and a knowledge that a woman brings to the table that we benefit from and so but a lot of that is our own insecurities a lot of the ways that we were raised what's a good place to take someone on the first date you know we there's this thing that's viral i saw it i saw it what's a good what's a good place to go on a first date and how much should one spend i think the best place to go on the first date is to ask her where she want to go oh no no why again big why why because she says i

want to go to this five-star restaurant where you already know if you just order the water it's 50 dollars but what's wrong with her saying that what's what what's wrong with me saying no no so first of all i'm trying to figure out what's the problem with that ain't no problem it ain't no problem her asking ain't no problem me saying no so now what's the next question where can we why are you saying why are you saying no because because here's the thing okay give it to me why are you saying no? Because, because here's the thing. Okay, give it to me. Why are you saying no? If I start you here, where do I go after here? That ain't necessarily true. It is. Oh, it ain't true?

Watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it. Man, I got to give you youngsters game. Y'all ain't got no game. Here it is. You can say that easily. Okay, baby girl, I'm finna take you to this place you want to, but I'm finna let you know. This place is so mad expensive.

I'm doing it because I want to impress you to let you know that I got you. Hold on, let me finish. I got you, but I ain't going to be able to do this all the time and make a joke out of it, make it light, keep it cool, keep it fun. Because see, let me tell you what wins a woman every time. Make her laugh. Make a joke out of it. Make wins a woman every time make her laugh make a joke and make it make it like man have you ever seen the ugliest dude with the prettiest chick yeah because she keep on laughing you know women love to laugh i'm using a little bit of a lick

girl i ain't taking you to that place because i ain't got the money girl we've been going down here this month going down here to chill his alibis or something. He's crazy. But that's the thing, though, Kirk. You know. That don't mean that. That don't mean that you're going to want that every time. It don't.

We're not wired like that. You know once you get established at a level. Now, let's just say for the sake of argument, in 1993, your first car is a Rolls Royce. Uh huh. You're not going back down. You're not lowering that going down from that. You're moving on. But what I'm saying, first of all, I'm not Stephen A. And so I'm only going to give you so much. I'm saying to you that. Now you know the cap. I'm saying to you that there is a way for there to be both both things can happen at the same time that it don't have to be black and white this way black and

white that way that and then first of all let me also say this let me also say this is i think that if you are taking a girl out and a girl is going out with a guy that there's not even a relationship to be able to laugh and play with it even in the process y'all ain't the ones for each other anyway because the best relationship that's gonna make it are the ones that are friends oh okay so what's the first question so what's the first question I should ask on a date then do you want to be the homie you want you want to have fun? You want somebody that's got your back? Laugh, have a good time? What you want to do?

Let's walk in the park and start asking. But the problem is, is men, we're so enamored by the physical nature of a woman that we don't even start asking nothing else. We're just looking at the booty. We're looking at the breasts. We're looking at our neck. We're looking at our feet. We're looking at our toes.

I ain't looking at no feet. There ain't nobody looking at no feet. You're not looking at feet? It's I'm looking at our feet we're looking at our feet now ain't nobody looking at your feet yes I'm looking at feet I'm looking at feet so let me ask you a question because here's the old question dating to get married so do we go do you go on a date to get married or you what do you because I yeah it's I don't believe in that as much as i know that a lot of christians push that narrative it's i don't see see it's i don't believe that marriage has to be the sum total of a person's existence i don't believe that that's that seems to be the overwhelming yeah and i think it's unfortunate it's because first of all about sheer numbers there's going to be many many beautiful women that will never get married

just on the sheer numbers. There's more women than men. So if we make humans feel like that, that, that, that you're some total of purpose and existence is in the space of a marriage, then we fail all of the beautiful people that, that, that, that, that will be single, that are single, that God can use them, that there's no purpose for their life. And that there's no plan and that they can't live fulfilled lives. So you can be able to date and still put parameters on if you want to be active or not, how much you want to give of yourself, so you can be able to still enjoy beautiful relationships. And it doesn't mean that you got to be walking out of your mind, marriage, marriage, marriage, is because not getting married is not a sin.

Oh, okay. It ain't a sin. Oh, okay. It ain't a sin. Right. And so we got to stop making everything black and white. Marriage is not on the same level as salvation. It ain't. And so you got to be able to have friends with people and you can be able to establish the boundaries of what the friendship needs to look like, how far it needs to go before it crosses over. And if something beautiful turns out of that, that turns into a marriage, it's a beautiful

thing. Marriage can be a beautiful thing, but it's not the sum total of a person's existence. But let me ask you a question. This open marriage, can a marriage survive with openness? I don't know why a person would want to be married then just don't be married yeah just don't be married just just just just be just be other be something other and you know like I said I think that the social constructs we for it's almost like what it's almost like our generation uh uh Chan if you are a 30 year old woman even to this now if if if you a 30

year old woman still single and you go to the family union all the old ladies are gonna pressure you what girl why you ain't married where your man where your home all of these social constructs that we put the pressure on people for things that they may not be ready for and that does not make them wrong right that just makes them not you. Right. Steve, I had Steve on the show and he said, blending families are hard.

Mm-hmm. Extremely hard. Mm-hmm. Now, it might look good on a postcard. Mm-hmm. And everybody might paint a rosy picture, but it's not easy. Mm-hmm.

Your situation, I think you have a stepdaughter no i don't have a stepdaughter i have a daughter you have a daughter i have a daughter that's how you that's she addressed you as such and you hell yes that's my daughter wow and i put hands on anybody to say something that's my daughter i fought for her that's my daughter she's she no you literally fought you went and you're like, Hey, that's what I did. That's what I did. I pulled up. I pulled up 26 years old. I pulled up. That's my baby. That is my baby. That is my little Sandy head baby. She 30, she's 34 years old now. And still my baby, still my baby. She has an incredible husband credible i'm a i'm a i'm a

granddaddy but that's my baby i legally changed her name i adopted her that that is my daughter ain't there there's no step carry on tammy it's a mama to carry on tammy's incredible mama to carry on oh man tammy man tammy, Tammy's an angel of a mama. Girl, let me tell you something. Ain't no better mama on the planet. Tammy Franklin. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. You mentioned that you suffered some addictions from your childhood that you got love and you look for things in all the wrong places. Yeah. And it led you down a path as an adult that you're not proud of. You you got therapy for it. How difficult was it for you to come to to share that? Hmm. It wasn't difficult for me to to talk about, you know, being promiscuous or childhood addictions to pornography. And, you know, growing up as a young man trying to figure it all out. No, no, that was hard for me.

It's not hard for me. It's not hard for me to talk. I heal as I reveal. Okay. So I'm going to tell you my junk is because that's what I think the message of the gospel is, man, is I just don't understand these perfect stained glass window individuals that live thinking like everybody that God used in the Bible. King David was a polygamist. We hear about him sleeping with Bathsheba, but before Bathsheba, David had many wives. Abraham, Solomon, all of these men that

struggled, people that were liars and murderers and killers in the Bible that we now consider heroes. They are our heroes, but they were flawed people. You know what? They are heroes because we have to live with them. The people that we live with, we kill. Wow. The black with the black church. How does the black church move forward? Because it seems like they wanted to be 50s, 60s, Dr. King. And I don't believe it's going to be that again. I don't believe it's going to be. I'm sorry. Yeah. I don't know if the black church historically will ever be what the black church was. But I do believe that there is a room and a space for the

church. And I believe that the church can still be a beautiful place for healing, for conversations, and for community. And I think that it can be a place to also reaffirm and reinforce truth, loving, compassionate truth about Jesus being the savior of the world. And I think that more than ever before, the church also needs to also acknowledge the mistakes that it's made from slavery, from segregation, from Jim Crow, even social injustice, from misogynistic messages, even the lack of compassion that we show people in the LGBTQIA plus community that there's room at the cross for everybody. And I'm going to beat everybody down there because I'm the first one to be in line down there. And that's how I live my life. Ain't nobody going to beat me down to the cross because I'm the first

one in need of it. But there's room for everybody down there. Everybody can come down there and get that same love. What are your thoughts on mega churches? Some of them become mega messes, you know, but then for some communities, they become mega miracles. I think that after COVID, we of course have seen another paradigm shift is because people are not filling up these churches anymore. And I don't know if that's all a bad thing. I think that this is a reset button for our species when it comes to faith and what the conversation of faith looks like moving forward.

But I still believe in that unapologetic truth. And I think that people still want it. They're tired of the games. They're tired of the gimmicks. They're tired of all the foolery. And I think that we've got to address those things. I do think, man, I do think that to be healthy, you've got to acknowledge what you did wrong.

You have a new album out. Father's day is out now. Debut number one on the billboard, top gospel charts, album making number four, your 14th number one here. What's next for Kirk Franklin? I have no idea.

I have no idea. And I'm cool with that like at 55 did you think that you would have had an explosion that you've had over the last five years of your career no like Shannon I'm gonna keep it a buck with you because I don't know sports I did not know until people told me because I was telling people what I was doing today and you know and all the homies was going crazy everybody Mr, Mr. Rick, everybody was like, whoa, because you're killing it. And I know Stephen Smith because he's a very kind guy, and he's been on my podcast, and we see each other, show us love. But I didn't know your career.

But over the last couple of years, you're all I see now. How has it been for you seeing this this this resurrection and explosion for you where your career has just changed in ways that you never could have even written in a book I tell people this um even at my highest and my greatest NFL moment it's not even a tenth of what it is right now. Wow. It's not even close. It's incomparable. And you can have seen this coming. No.

And a lot of people have the same, you know, they ask, they're like, well, how do you know so much about sports? Because I've transitioned very well into this profession, people have don't know or have forgotten that I played professional sports. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And and what do you accredit it to? Hard work, because I didn't want people to just think I was a jock talking sports. I wanted people to think that I knew what I was talking about with sports and they know that I put the time in and effort into work. that I put the time in and the effort in the work. That's the way my grandparents raised me, was to work no matter what the job or how much they were paying you, because you could do a job for $5 and he said, if you work hard, maybe he have a job for you for $10. What was that one thing that your granddad has said to you back then that even now you're successful more than

you ever dreamed that you can remember. Never mistake habit for hard work. He said, boy, doing something over and over don't mean you're working hard. And I never forgot that. And the analogy that I use for people, I say, Pete, you see people go to the gym every single day and the body never change. Yeah.

Because they go into the gym out of habit. They're not working hard. Yeah. And so I never forgot that. And so anything that I approach,'m all in I don't I don't know how to multitask I got a job that's the most important job I can't have five jobs I need to have one job that I can kill that I can knock it out of the park Kirk I'm gonna ask you to do something that I've really never asked anybody to do. I want you to close Club Shea Shea out today with a prayer.

Wow. I'd be honored. Is there anything specific that you've been seeing in the world or life that you think would be a beautiful thing to just even to even include in the prayer? Like what's been on your heart lately? What's something that you've been burning with, something that you care about or something going on that you think would be something beautiful for us to kind of call out? I've just been very appreciative and very thankful for the understanding, the vision, the love that I received. You know, obviously, everybody that's going to watch this has had ups and downs, but I went through some things the last six months, and that it, like, wow. And you just didn't know.

But I always, and my sister is very religious and she's devout she says shannon god doesn't close the door when i have one open for you and he she told me she said she sent me this passage she said he said god said that if you if you stand for me no one can stand against you yeah yeah yeah and if i stand for you yeah yeah yeah so yeah it's good it's good let's get it in Man father, thank you so much for being so kind To just too young just to black man that has come from different places didn't have much and We know it's because of your goodness. it ain't because of something so great in us it's just been because of your love and we

want to say thank you we want to say thank you that the things that could have killed us you allowed them to make us stronger Lord we don't always understand what you do we know people that should be sitting here that was smarter than us more more more than us. And Lord, we even want to pray for those people, man, for them to not give up on you, for them to believe that there's still a plan for their lives too. If anybody listening who may feel that you've forgotten them, we know how that feels. And so God, I'm asking you that every son and daughter that's watching this right now listening to this right now that's going through something painful and hurtful I

Pray Lord that they will be reminded That whether they go to church or not whether they believe in you or not that you don't stop believing in them Just because they may not believe in you. I Pray that you meet them where they are, that this will be a moment in their bedroom, in their car, in their jail cell, hospital bed, wherever, that they will feel your love and that love will be the door for them to get to know you more.

I don't have all the answers and I don't know all that you do, but I've seen you do great things and I believe you will continue to do great things, like forgiving me of my mistakes and giving me a chance after chance, even when I don't deserve it. I keep praying for my brother right now. And I keep praying that you just keep opening up doors. Let him be a billboard. If it had not been for your goodness, he don't know where he'd be.

Pray for this country, all the people that are going through, people that are facing hard times. Let us know that joy cometh in the morning. In your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen. He said, if you kneel before me, I'll'll stand for you And if I stand for you No one can stand against you All my life Been grinding all my life Sacrifice Hustle paid the price

Won a slice Got the roll of dice That's why All my life I've been grinding all my life All my life Been grinding all my life Sacrifice

Hustle paid the price Won a slice Got the roll of dice That's why All my life I've been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle paid the price. Want a slice. Got the rolling dice. That's why all my life I've been grinding all my life. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee.

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