Franklin has always had an ear for music.  At age four he started piano lessons, and by age 12 he was the director of his church choir.  At a young age he was able to not only play by ear, but could also read and write music.  Franklin had a strict upbring in the church and his grandma did her best to keep him on the straight and narrow.  

At age 15, Franklin found himself as the father of a child.  He had attempted to talk his girlfriend into an abortion, but she insisted on keeping the child. He has since talked about his transgressions, but has always remained to keep his girlfriends identity hidden.  Franklin was expelled from school after developing behavioral problems after the birth of his child. 

It took the shooting of a close friend to finally get Franklin back to church.  He found himself rededicating himself, and becoming a big part of the church choir.  Through his efforts with the church choir he got the attention of gospel music legend Milton Biggham, who became responsible for getting Franklin his first recorded song. His song  "Every Day with Jesus" was recorded when he was only 20 years old. 

In 1992 he was the mastermind of a 17 person choir that was made of neighborhood friends and associates.  In 1992 Kirk Franklin & The Family was signed to a recording contract with GospelCentric.  There first album spent 42 weeks on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart, and became the first gospel album to sell over 1 million copies. 

In 1996 the group released the album  Whatcha Lookin' 4, and it became 2X platinum and and won Franklin his first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.  In 1997 he had a collaboration with Cheryl "Salt" James (of Salt-N-Pepa).  The song was popular on MTV and spent two weeks on top of the R&B charts. and was one of America's top 40 hits. 

Despite all of the fame, Franklin had fallen in love with his long time friend, Tammy Collins, and they were married in 1996. Tammy had a child from a previous partner, and the couple also had 2 more children together.  This relationship helped Franklin deal with a lot of issues he had in his closet.  Tammy convinces him to speak on his childhood and the difficulties he had.  Another thing that comes to light is his surprising addiction to pornography. 

He claims his wife is the only reason he was able to rise above his addiction.  He gave his marriage the credit for breaking the cycle of pornography and his closer relationship with God. He talks openly about the issue and encourages any other man that is facing the same addiction to turn to God for help but to also lean on loved ones for support.