Claudrena N. Harold
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780252043574
- eISBN:
- 9780252052453
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252043574.003.0013
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
Gospel superstars Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams anchor the book’s epilogue, which discusses the continued growth of gospel music during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The first half of the ...
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Gospel superstars Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams anchor the book’s epilogue, which discusses the continued growth of gospel music during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The first half of the epilogue details the meteoric rise of Franklin. With domestic record sales exceeding ten million, Franklin stands as the most successful gospel artist of any generation. With hit songs like “Why We Sing” and “Stomp,” the energetic performer was popular in both gospel and pop. The epilogue considers how Franklin built upon the commercial triumphs of previous gospel artists as well as paved a path for his contemporaries with his blend of gospel and hip-hop soul. The epilogue also examines the career of Yolanda Adams, a gifted vocalist who also achieved crossover success.Less
Gospel superstars Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams anchor the book’s epilogue, which discusses the continued growth of gospel music during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The first half of the epilogue details the meteoric rise of Franklin. With domestic record sales exceeding ten million, Franklin stands as the most successful gospel artist of any generation. With hit songs like “Why We Sing” and “Stomp,” the energetic performer was popular in both gospel and pop. The epilogue considers how Franklin built upon the commercial triumphs of previous gospel artists as well as paved a path for his contemporaries with his blend of gospel and hip-hop soul. The epilogue also examines the career of Yolanda Adams, a gifted vocalist who also achieved crossover success.
Claudrena N. Harold
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780252043574
- eISBN:
- 9780252052453
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252043574.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
When Sunday Comes charts the explosive growth of the gospel music industry between 1968 and 1994. It contextualizes the genre’s sonic innovations, theological tensions, and political assertions ...
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When Sunday Comes charts the explosive growth of the gospel music industry between 1968 and 1994. It contextualizes the genre’s sonic innovations, theological tensions, and political assertions within the larger framework of the socioeconomic and cultural transformations taking place in black America during the post–civil rights era. Through an examination of such gospel legends as James Cleveland, Andraé Crouch, Shirley Caesar, the Clark Sisters, the Winans, Al Green, and Kirk Franklin, among others, the book explores the ways in which gospel music has provided an outlet for African Americans to express their spiritual, cultural, and regional identities. Organized chronologically, When Sunday Comes pivots around six principal questions: What were the major sonic transformations in gospel music between 1968 and 1994, and to what extent were those transformations reflective of creative shifts within other musical genres, particularly R&B, soul, funk, disco, and hip-hop? In what ways were gospel artists shaped by larger political developments in the United States, i.e., the rise and fall of the Black Power movement as well as the growing influence of the Moral Majority? To what degree were the soundscapes of gospel music reflective of regional dynamics? How did the political economy of the entertainment industry affect gospel artists’ commercial opportunities? And did the end of de jure racial segregation alter black artists’ relationship with the predominantly white contemporary Christian music industry?Less
When Sunday Comes charts the explosive growth of the gospel music industry between 1968 and 1994. It contextualizes the genre’s sonic innovations, theological tensions, and political assertions within the larger framework of the socioeconomic and cultural transformations taking place in black America during the post–civil rights era. Through an examination of such gospel legends as James Cleveland, Andraé Crouch, Shirley Caesar, the Clark Sisters, the Winans, Al Green, and Kirk Franklin, among others, the book explores the ways in which gospel music has provided an outlet for African Americans to express their spiritual, cultural, and regional identities. Organized chronologically, When Sunday Comes pivots around six principal questions: What were the major sonic transformations in gospel music between 1968 and 1994, and to what extent were those transformations reflective of creative shifts within other musical genres, particularly R&B, soul, funk, disco, and hip-hop? In what ways were gospel artists shaped by larger political developments in the United States, i.e., the rise and fall of the Black Power movement as well as the growing influence of the Moral Majority? To what degree were the soundscapes of gospel music reflective of regional dynamics? How did the political economy of the entertainment industry affect gospel artists’ commercial opportunities? And did the end of de jure racial segregation alter black artists’ relationship with the predominantly white contemporary Christian music industry?
