Gospel artist Kim Burrell put her foot in her mouth during a sermon last week and made some homophobic remarks that ended up going viral. Now, they could possibly have her removed from one of 2016’s biggest albums—Frank Ocean’s Blonde.
Burrell is under fire for saying “the perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women,” and now Frank Ocean’s mother, Katonya Breaux, has asked her son to remove the 44-year-old singer’s vocals from his latest album.
Along with Yung Lean, Kim Burrell sings a few lines on the album’s 16th track, “Godspeed,” a song about eternal love. Much of Frank Ocean’s Blonde, like Channel ORANGE, deals with sexuality. In 2012, Frank famously posted an open letter to his Tumblr that revealed a past romantic relationship with a man, so it’s clear why his mother would react as she has.
While it’s uncertain whether Breaux’s question is hypothetical, the answer would seem to be yes—as Blonde remains a primarily digital release (Frank sold a limited CD and vinyl run on Black Friday). Kanye West famously tweaked the digital-only The Life Of Pablo album last year, updating mixes and instrumentation, and even adding bonus track “Saint Pablo.”
Frank Ocean is obviously a fan of the gospel great. Aside from including her on his latest project, he shared a clip of Burrell singing her song “Home” on his Tumblr account in 2013, concluding the post with, “the lady in the video…summa cum laude.”
You can read all of the lyrics to Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed” right here on Genius.
