GloRilla Quotes the Bible After Gospel Singer Takes Aim at Her Kirk Franklin Collab
The post from GloRilla arrived as the gospel singer Tye Tribbett questioned partnerships between sacred and secular artists, a debate that has trailed her work with Kirk Franklin for two years.
GloRilla, the Memphis rapper born Gloria Hallelujah Woods, said Wednesday evening that she has never understood why so many people are bothered when she gives God praise. The post landed in the middle of a widening debate over whether gospel artists should work with secular performers like her.
In a post on X, GloRilla, 27 years old, wrote that she would “never understand why so many people are triggered” by her giving God praise.
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She said she sees nothing wrong with giving God glory, citing Psalm 150:6, which reads, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” She said she could not “find the wrong in it to save my life.” As long as she is breathing, she added, she will give God the glory, and nobody can make her “feel bad about that.”
The post, which had drawn more than 125,000 views, did not name Tribbett or the interview. It arrived as comments from the Grammy-winning gospel singer and pastor on The Breakfast Club drew attention.
In a recent appearance on the show, Tye Tribbett, 50 years old, said he has reservations about gospel artists working with secular musicians, arguing that such collaborations are not necessary to spread the word of God. He expressed love for Kirk Franklin but questioned the decision to take the “GloRilla route.”
The collaboration at the center of the argument began in October 2024, when Franklin appeared on “Rain Down on Me,” a track from GloRilla’s debut album, Glorious, alongside Maverick City Music, Kierra Sheard and Chandler Moore.
The song asks God for protection from enemies and a downpour of blessings, and it sits among explicit tracks on the album. Some Christians objected at the time. It went on to win the BET Award for Best Gospel/Inspirational in 2025, and GloRilla used her acceptance speech to say she owed it all to God and had been nervous to ask Franklin to join her because of the way she raps.
The pair reunited on Sept. 25 for “This Time,” a song about holding onto faith through hard moments. Franklin leads it with his choir, and GloRilla steps in near the end.
The production borrows a horn line from Mandrill’s “Children of the Sun,” and the single is from Franklin’s 14th studio album, I Am What I Am, his first double album. The song gave Franklin, 56 years old, a 10th No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart, a first for any artist. He performed it at the 41st annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards, and the video made its broadcast debut on BET Her.
Criticism followed. The backlash centered on whether GloRilla’s secular rap catalog makes her suitable for a gospel collaboration, and critics questioned whether Franklin was ministering to her audience or sending church kids toward hers.
On the Oct. 27 episode of Big Boy’s Neighborhood, Franklin said the ridicule from some religious people was “breaking my heart.” He said GloRilla had expressed discomfort with being judged over her appearance on the song, and that he stopped caring about judgment of his rap collaborations with Kanye West and Lil Baby a long time ago.
Around the album’s release, he said he is not sorry for working with her despite the explicit content of her music. He also defended praying with Chris Brown and Usher before a recent concert, a moment that drew social media criticism, saying he did it because they asked.
Franklin has found allies. Salt of Salt-N-Pepa, speaking to V-103 on Oct. 2, said she faced similar criticism over her verse on Franklin’s 1997 song “Stomp,” and that some radio stations removed it. She praised the GloRilla pairing, saying “we need more light.”
Pastor John P. Kee defended Franklin on Oct. 3 at Praise in the Park in Atlanta, telling critics to leave him alone. Da Brat rejected the idea that making rap music means someone does not love the Lord or have faith in God.
GloRilla has long described faith as part of her story. She has said her family barred hip-hop from the house, that she sang in the choir and on the praise and worship team at her church, and that she once planned to become a gospel singer. On the Tamron Hall Show in 2024, she said she always has to put God first in whatever she does.
Tribbett is no stranger to controversy on The Breakfast Club. In a March 2024 appearance, he sharply criticized the institution of the church, remarks that drew a public rebuke from Pastor Mike McClure Jr. He has also toured arenas alongside Franklin. A 2004 interview noted that he had worked with secular artists early in his career, including Timbaland, while saying he did not recommend the approach as a wholesale practice.
The argument is an old one in Black gospel music. Similar fights have followed Franklin since “Stomp,” and the earlier controversies defenders point to include Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 1930s.
GloRilla, meanwhile, has kept busy outside the studio. On Oct. 3, she launched GloVerse, a beauty app that connects users with verified stylists and makeup artists, at Buckhead Art and Company in Atlanta, with a full mobile app expected in December.
