Kirk Franklin and Davido to Release Hope in You on October 30

An Afrobeats star stood with a gospel choir in Atlanta and sang hope, weeks before anyone outside that room could hear the finished song. Davido delivered a melodic verse and joined the choir on the chorus, and the sound in the room was gospel hope carried on Afrobeats rhythms, with Kirk Franklin's choir behind him.

Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido has collaborated with American gospel singer Kirk Franklin on a new song titled Hope in You, scheduled for release on Friday, October 30, 2026. The song will feature on Franklin's forthcoming 14-track album, I Am What I Am, which blends gospel music with contemporary sounds, and BGospel describes it as Franklin's first double album, with seven studio songs and seven live recordings. Some outlets call the song I Hope In You, as Tuko and The News Chronicle use that spelling, while Leadership and BGospel call it Hope in You, the title used here.

The collaboration was previewed at an album listening event in Atlanta, United States, on October 12, where Davido reportedly performed a verse and joined the choir. At the playback, Davido delivered a melodic verse and joined the choir on the chorus, which blended Franklin's gospel influences with a contemporary Afrobeats sound, according to the listening-event reporting. A preview is not a release, and the song will not be out until Friday.

Kirk Franklin Davido Hope in You: I Am What I Am Album

The studio side of the album also features Jelly Roll on Free Me Tonight, GloRilla on This Time, and Tobe Nwigwe on It Gets Better. Those three features show the range Franklin is aiming for on the studio half, with country, rap and hip-hop voices sitting next to his gospel sound. The album is the frame for the Davido song, and the full album story, with its 30 October release date and first double album billing, sets out the same 14-track plan in detail.

The live side includes Thank You For Everything featuring Karen Clark Sheard of The Clark Sisters, and the closing track Time featuring Tim Rogers. Gospel Register reporting notes that This Time with GloRilla debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart dated 10 October 2026, giving Franklin his tenth No. 1 on that chart, and Franklin recieved that tenth chart-topper before the album itself had arrived.

Whatever you think of me, whatever your view is, good, bad, or ugly, I am what I am.

Franklin said those words about the album title in a public conversation reported on 24 October, after critics questioned whether he was church enough or godly enough. He also said, in the same conversation: When you listen to my music, no matter how ratchet the track is, I say Jesus, and you always know who I am talking about. The two lines together explain the album title better than any press summary could, because they answer the criticism head-on and name the centre of the music in the same breath.

Davido First Gospel Collaboration: Excitement and Criticism Online

The News Chronicle reported that the song is Davido's first song with a gospel singer, and that Franklin shared a clip of himself singing part of the song on his Instagram account. The first claim is attributed to that outlet, and it is presented here in that form, because a first is the kind of claim that needs its source named. The Instagram clip, as reported, let Franklin's own followers hear a piece of the song from Franklin himself, before the release date.

Some social media users criticised the collaboration, questioning what Franklin stands to gain from partnering with an Afrobeats star, according to Tuko's account of online reactions. That criticism is presented here as attributed social-media reaction, not as an established judgement on the song, and the same reporting shows the reaction split into seperate camps, with excitement running alongside the criticism.

Gospel music has had a crowded October, with the Dove Awards honouring Josiah Queen's Dusty Bibles as Song of the Year and Josiah Queen releasing a 14-track album with proceeds pledged to persecuted Christians. The Franklin and Davido song arrives in the middle of that run, and it shares the same question: how far gospel music can stretch its sound without losing its centre.

Gospel Music October 2026: Christian Artists Crossing Sounds

Franklin is not the only Christian artist crossing into a new sound this month, as Brandon Lake launching a country-flavoured single called Changing showed earlier in October. The difference with Hope in You is the pairing itself, an Afrobeats star and a gospel choir leader on the same chorus, and the pairing is what made the Atlanta preview feel like an event rather than a routine album playback. The song has not been released yet, and the Friday release date is the line between preview talk and the finished record.

On Friday, listeners will finally hear the full song that Atlanta heard in part, and they will be able to judge whether the gospel hope and the Afrobeats rhythm sit together the way the preview suggested. The criticism will still be there, and so will the excitement, and the chart story of This Time shows Franklin has heard both before. What Hope in You sounds like in full, and whether Davido's verse lands with gospel listeners the way it landed in Atlanta, is the question Friday will answer.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.