Music and Religion
- Tanjae Haugabook-Lugo
- Jan 22, 2020
- 1 min read
In my experience music has played a huge role in religion. Most of the time when walking into church, upbeat music would be playing. And again when leaving church. I believe that genre of music is used as an aesthetic to warmly welcome people in, as well as leave a good impression when people leave. Kirk Franklin is one of a few artists that has impacted my experience with music in religion the most. I felt like I could relate to his music the most because of his style. It wasn't like traditional gospel music, which is slow in tempo and more intricate. It was upbeat and fun. It made me enjoy going to church and it made me feel the closest to God. I was young with a short attention span, but when it came to Kirk Franklin I knew every word to his songs and felt good while listening to them. Now he does have slow songs as well that I enjoy listening. Even then I could just connect with his music.
Marvin Sapp was also an gospel artist that I admired. His music strengthened my relationship with God and reminded to keeping moving forward in my faith.
Ah yes, Kirk Franklin! For many years my husband and I taught at a summer music festival for high schoolers in Pennsylvania, and the student choir was an important part of the camp--every student, regardless of specialty, was required to sing in the choir, and they performed every week for six weeks. And for a few years there, there was <always> a Kirk Franklin number somewhere on the program. Always made me happy.