NPR CELEBRATES BHM WITH KIRK FRANKLIN

Sixteen-time Grammy Award winner Kirk Franklin recently took over the at-home edition of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert in celebration of Black History Month.

The RCA Inspiration artist serenaded the faithful from Uncle Jessie’s Kitchen, his Arlington, Texas, studio, performing against a backdrop that recalled the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike, at which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech.

Joining Franklin were singers Melodie Pace, Darian Elliot, Michael Bethany, Deon Yancey and Tia Rudd, as well as Terry Baker on drums and percussion, Shaun Martin on keyboards and Matthew Ramsey on bass.

The ensemble opened with “Love Theory,” followed by the classic “Silver and Gold,” “Melodies From Heaven” and the joyous “Smile."

“I know you’re at home right now in your drawers, listening to some Jesus music," Franklin allowed. "It’s OK—Jesus loves you in your drawers!”

Get into the spirit below. (Psst—we, too, are in our drawers.)