“Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain down on me, rain down on me.” Now we all know this line from Kirk Franklin and The Family’s classic song “Melodies From Heaven.” The song was released in September 1996 and spent 26 weeks on the Billboard top 100 charts at the peak position of 21. This song has been a fixture in gospel, urban, and HBCU culture forever. Rapper DJ Luke Nasty plans to keep the song alive and relevant by sampling it in his latest single, “Rain.”
Luke Nasty— most known for his hit “On The Way,” that samples Tony! Toni! Toné!’s “Whatever You Want”— announced that he released the song Tuesday on Instagram. However, today the good folks on Twitter caught wind of it and it sparked up quite a debate. So much so that Kirk Franklin has started trending on Twitter. There has been a mixture of reactions when it comes to blending Gospel with secular music.
One user said, “I know this is not a Kirk Franklin sample.” Another said, “Forgive me,” with a gif attached with a woman dancing. Although the song is blasphemous, it is hard to deny that the song is a bop. However, a lot of people are unsure if Luke Nasty actually cleared the sample. Kirk has sampled R&B songs in his music, so you would think that he gave his approval. It looks like he didn’t due to the caption Luke Nasty left on his announcement post. Luke wrote, “No, disrespect lol @kirkfranklin, can you clear this?”
As of right now, it’s unclear if Kirk has actually responded, but if he doesn’t get clearance, the song may actually be in trouble. Currently, the song isn’t on major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube. Roomies, we’ll keep y’all updated on how this plays out.
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