Following their performance on SNL, gospel musician Kirk Franklin took to social media to defend his relationship with rapper Kanye West.
On Saturday (Feb. 13), Franklin and West performed The Life Of Pablo cut, "Ultra Light Beam,” along with The-Dream, Kelly Price and Chance The Rapper. Shortly thereafter, Franklin’s online followers shared their issues with his appearance on West’s song. He later posted a picture of himself and the Chicago rhymer with a message for his followers.
"Kanye is not me," he wrote. "I am not him. He is my brother I am proud to do life with. No sprints, but Marathons; like most of us are on. Before one song was released, I was crucified because my brother asked me to take a picture."
Last month, 2 Chainz posted a photo of himself, West and Franklin that initially sparked the backlash.
"I will not turn my back on my brother," Franklin added. "I will love him, prayerfully grow with him. However long he'll have me, and however long the race takes. To a lot of my Christian family, I'm sorry he's not good enough, Christian enough, or running at your pace...and as I read some of your comments, neither am I. That won't stop me from running. Pray we win."
During his Twitter feud with Wiz Khalifa, West referred to TLOP, which is now available to stream on TIDAL, as a gospel album.
HOT 97's Ebro Darden recently detailed the album and shared what is to be expected following Yeezy’s listening party. He confirmed that the LP, which serves as West’s seventh solo studio effort, is definitely "rap-heavy," but "more melodic" than his 2013 release, Yeezus.
"There's some soul, there's some choir singing. There's some soulful Kanye West... There's some Chicago representatives on the album," Darden said.
Check out their performance here.