Are You Listening?

Kirk Franklin is the biggest selling Contemporary Gospel artist in the history of SoundScan. He has sold over 14 million albums to date and over 20 #1 singles at Gospel radio. Franklin has won 7 GRAMMY Awards, an American Music Award, 35 Stellar Awards (gospel), 12 Dove Awards, 4 NAACP Awards, 2 BET Music Awards, a Soul Train Award along with numerous others. Kirk Franklin also hosts and co-executive produces the BET original series, Sunday Best, the channel's nationwide search for the next best gospel artist. Kirk Franklin took his outstanding skills and put them to good use after the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Franklin assembled a large group of award-winning gospel music artists in Nashville's Quad Studios to perform Are You Listening? The whole group of artists hopes that the song will inspire those affected as well as inspire others to donate and help in any way they can. The record is available online, on iTunes, at Walmart, and at other major retailers, and all proceeds are being donated to different charities involved in relief efforts.

"All the artists associated with the project donated their talent and gifts for this project," says Kirk Franklin, the song and project producer. "This initiative is so important because while we are asking America to give we know that many are giving sacrificially. The people of Haiti are very spiritual people with an unwavering faith and belief in God and still count The Lord as the main source and provider. We will continue to pray and stand with them. We hope this song will bring much needed support and awareness in an effort to raise funds in the near and long-term future."

Although this song was produced and released in January, I still wanted to mention it on this blog. I heard it a few months ago and recently remembered listening to it and how much I really loved it. This song is so much more personal then many of the songs that have been labeled as support songs for the victims in Haiti. The artists' voices are absolutely amazing and give so much to the song, it is definitely worth listening to. Kirk Franklin's words, "The people of Haiti are very spiritual people with an unwavering faith and belief in God and still count The Lord as the main source and provider," are so touching. The fact that these are all famed Gospel artists performing the song makes it all the more powerful. It's incredible to be reminded that these people still have such strong faiths after all that has happened to them.

Watch the video and listen to the words, it really is moving.



You can purchase the song here.