Gospel Pop
tagStarted 1995Peak 1997-2010Last big hit still active
Located in 2 routes
Upbeat, groove-driven gospel built on Black church tradition and pop/R&B/hip-hop production: choir stacks, hand-clap energy, funk and new-jack-swing beats, call-and-response and celebratory praise. Vocally powerhouse and rhythmically danceable, it carries gospel's spiritual joy into crossover radio rotation rather than the slow gospel-ballad register.
History
Kirk Franklin reinvented the form: Stomp (1997), remixed with Salt-N-Pepa's Salt, hit No. 1 on R&B airplay and crossed to MTV. Mary Mary's Shackles (Praise You) (2000) and later Kirk Franklin's I Smile pushed gospel's upbeat side into mainstream pop, energetic, contemporary and rhythm-forward.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Franklin
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shackles_(Praise_You)
- http://www.citypages.com/music/how-gospel-innovator-kirk-franklin-and-stomp-unexpectedly-stormed-the-pop-charts-20-years-ago-this-week/423545234