When gospel music songwriter and producer Kirk Franklin appeared in a
recording studio with rap mogul Kanye West, gospel singer Kierra Sheard
said she was inspired.
"I was super inspired. What was so much
more fun is that 2 Chainz posted a video of them in the studio and Kirk
Franklin was chilling on the wall," Sheard said in a Periscope video
posted Tuesday, according to EEW magazine. "He did nothing that let his good be evil spoken of. It was perfect."
The 28-year-old daughter of Grammy Award-winning singer Karen Clark
Sheard of the gospel music group The Clark Sisters and the daughter of
megachurch pastor Bishop J Drew Sheard, rebuked those who spoke
negatively about Franklin's decision to spend time with 38-year-old
rapper West ahead of his Feb 11 album.
"So many people negatively
respond to Kirk Franklin and y'all tried to throw him under the bus. I
have a huge problem with that," she said. "People of God, people of
Christ, we have to do better."
In a recent Twitter post,
Franklin opened up amid the criticism by writing, "I want to sit where
the sinners are ... the well sometimes make me sick."
Sheard said the criticism of Franklin reminded her why some people avoid the church.
"People
have said, 'This is why I don't come to church. I don't deal with
church people,'" she asserted. "And some people have even said, 'This is
why I don't even believe in God because, the God that you all speak
about and the love that you guys say you ought to share, you guys don't
share it amongst each other.'"
Her brother, J. Drew Sheard II, 27,
has focused on establishing his own music career throughout the years
but has felt judgment from some in the Christian community in the past.
Kierra previously spoke to The Huffington Post in an emotional interview about making non traditional gospel music for people like her brother.
"There
are people out there like my brother, who are probably just tired of
church people and the judgment and the negativity. …," Kierra said.
"This is my way of presenting Jesus in a different way, in a fresh way,
in a way I think he has called me to present him."