By Erica Johnson
90’s church kids from all over were in for a treat Sunday, May 31st, when two of the biggest names in Gospel Music, Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammon, went track for track on the popular Instagram live stream, Verzuz.
Verzuz is a platform where artists go hit for hit in a live stream on Instagram. Usually, the artists are secular; however, in light of the social unrest since the death of George Floyd, Verzuz decided to do a Gospel version on Pentecost. Rather than battling, it was a celebration of the two Gospel artists’ greatest hits.
The live opened with Bishop T. D. Jakes giving a prayer. Both Hammond and Franklin dawned black shirts reading, “I Can’t Breathe…” standing for one of the final statements before the death of Floyd at the hands of police.
In between playing hit songs like, “Glory to Glory”, “Imagine Me”, “Love Therapy”, and “Running Back to You,” both artists shared words of encouragement and inspiration for the Black Community in the midst of our modern-day race war in America.
Celebrities in both the secular and Gospel arena commented throughout the live stream, reminiscing on choir songs from their youth and expressing their need to return to the faith. With each praise song played, the screen exploded with hearts and comments sharing hilarious memories of youth choir solos-gone-wrong. Worship songs brought a flood of prayer hands and crying emojis along, along with confessions of missing church and the need to return to God in the midst of feeling fear of judgement for sins.
As a fan of Gospel music, it was amazing to watch how Holy Spirit inspired music can bring people from all walks of life together under one common necessity—the need to rest in God’s presence in the midst of a tumultuous society, even if for only a moment of time.
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