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tobyMac

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TobyMac

Kevin (Toby) Michael McKeehan, professionally known as tobyMac, is known for his role as a member of the Christian music group dc Talk. He has since continued his solo career with the release of three commercially successful studio albums; Momentum (2001), Welcome to Diverse City (2004), and most recently Portable Sounds (2007). He has also released remixed versions of his first two albums, creatively titled Re:Mix Momentum, and Renovating Diverse City.

Personal life

Toby was born Kevin Michael McKeehan on October 22, 1964, in Fairfax, Virginia[2]. He got the name Toby from having been born in October. His older brother started calling him Toby before he was born.

Toby and his wife Amanda (Mandy) live in Franklin, TN. They have five children: Truett (TruDog), Moses, Marlee, Leo and Judah. Moses and Marlee were adopted in 2002. Leo was born in 2004. Judah was born in 2006[3]. Truett appears on the albums Momentum, Re:Mix Momentum, Welcome to Diverse City, Renovating Diverse City, and Portable Sounds as emerging rap artist TruDog.

dc Talk

He grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and met Kevin Max and Michael Tait while in college at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. The three formed the band dc Talk in 1989. A unique approach to combining rock, pop, and rap quickly rocketed the trio to success, not only in the contemporary Christian music market, but also in the mainstream market. Their album Jesus Freak was a significant milestone, selling over two million copies, making it a double platinum record.

dc Talk's latest album was released in 2000. The album Intermission: the Greatest Hits was a dc Talk compilation put together when the group members started their "intermission." The members were pursuing individual careers then, and at the time assured fans that dc Talk had not split up, but rather they were simply taking "an intermission." More recently though, comments from the band members, most notably from Kevin Max, have implied that dc Talk will not regroup. Kevin Max writes on his official website's message board, "dc Talk is something of the past. In order for DC Talk to be anything of the future, it will be up to each individual member to come together to create something that is lasting and substantial. There is an audience out there interested in seeing dc Talk back together as a group and as an entertaining and creative force, but I feel that the spirit of the thing is dead. I appreciated the time that we had together those many years, and I thank God many times over for allowing me to be a part of something that was so far reaching and helped so many people, but to be honest, just doing a show to do a show is not interesting to me. It must be thought out, creative and passionate."

dc Talk reunited to perform a song on the album Let's Roll about the events on September 11, 2001, and again on Toby's third album "Welcome to Diverse City." They remixed the song "Atmosphere," an original song appearing earlier on the album.

Throughout the 1990s, tobyMac achieved considerable success with his Grammy winning group dc talk, stockpiling a number of gold and platinum albums with seven million combined copies sold. As the group moved into the rear view window, tobyMac boldly stepped out on his own with his solo debut, Momentum. Earning rave reviews from Billboard to CCM Magazine, the 2001 album debuted atop the Billboard Heatseekers chart, sold over 500,000 copies, and landed two number one singles, "Extreme Days" and "Somebody's Watching." He went on to win several Dove Awards, including Producer of the Year, and two BMI honors as Christian Songwriter of the Year.

Solo career

Toby McKeehan's solo music differs from dc Talk's rock-based musical style, leaning toward a more urban, hip hop sound. His sound is much more reminiscent of what was heard when dc Talk originally started out, on the albums dc Talk, Nu Thang, and Free At Last, their most widely known album besides Jesus Freak.

McKeehan composed and recorded the song "Extreme Days" for the 2001 Truth Builder Productions film Extreme Days. The song was subsequently featured on the 2001 debut tobyMac album Momentum and was used in the movie, Hangman's Curse, based on the popular book by Frank Peretti. McKeehan also composed and performed the song "New World" for the album Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His song "The Slam" was featured in advertisements for the films Transporter 2 and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, as well as advertisements for the television show Prison Break. The song was also featured in car commercials, men's NCAA clips, NBA Finals (Miami Heat, 2006), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) programming, NFL Football commercials, and "The Ultimate Highlight" on Sportscenter. Ohio Valley Wrestling performer Matt Cappotelli (who currently is unable to perform due to a brain tumor) uses "The Slam" as his entrance theme. Many more of Toby's songs have also been used in commercials. "Atmosphere" was used in a Volvo car commercial, "Burn For You" was used for cinnamon gum commericals, "Ignition" is being used by ABC/ESPN to promote its coverage of NASCAR, and "Boomin'" has also been used to promote at least one television show. His songs "Yours", "Extreme Days", "Get This Party Started", and "Momentum" were all recently featured in the Xbox 360 video game Crackdown. In September 2007, his song "Feelin' So Fly" appeared in the film The Game Plan starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Portable Sounds sold 50,645 copies in its first week, debuting at #10 on the Billboard 200, and at #1 on the SoundScan Contemporary Christian Overall chart. [4]

The Diverse City Band

Toby's band on his albums and his live shows has become known as "The Diverse City Band". This is the current lineup:[4]

Miscellaneous

Toby has also written two books with Michael Tait and Kevin Max called "Jesus Freaks vol. 1 and 2". These books were mainly focused on Christian martyrs. He has also written two more books with Michael Tait titled "Under God" containing stories of America's spiritual battles, and another called "Living Under God."

Toby is also the President of record label Gotee Records. Gotee features artists such as DJ Maj, Relient K and John Reuben. However, as a recording artist, he is under contract with ForeFront Records. He got the name "Gotee" from the song "Socially Acceptable" on dcTalk's album Free at Last. A member of the band GRITS was doing the background vocals, and he was saying, "Let it go, T, let it go." ("T" refers to Toby) Toby happened to be growing a goatee on his face at the time, and when somebody pointed out the coincidence, he decided to name his new record company, "Gotee Records."

Toby's song "Diverse City" was featured in the Veronica Mars episode, The Wrath of Con.

TobyMac made it up to 2nd most requested artist of 2007 on Christian-HipHop.net and 17th most requested on ChristianRock.net.

Toby Mac is featured on T-Bone's new music video Name Droppin'.[5]

Discography

Albums

Album Cover Year Title Label(s) Status Peak Position

(Billboard 200)

File:Tobymac Momentum.jpg 2001 Momentum ForeFront Records Gold [6] #110
2004 Welcome to Diverse City ForeFront Records Gold [7] #54
File:Portablesounds.jpg 2007 Portable Sounds ForeFront Records #10

Remixes

Remix Cover Year Title Label(s)
File:Remixmomentumcover.jpg 2003 Re:Mix Momentum ForeFront Records
File:TobyMac - Renovating Diverse City 2.jpg 2005 Renovating Diverse City ForeFront Records

EPs and Singles

EP Cover Year Title Label(s)
File:Thischristmascover.jpg 2002 This Christmas ForeFront Records
2004 Phenomenon Festival Single ForeFront Records
2006 Top Five Hits EP ForeFront Records
2007 Made To Love Single ForeFront Records

Charts

Song Album ChristianRock.net Peak Position
Extreme Days Extreme Days Soundtrack #1
Yours Momentum #2
What's Going Down Momentum #6
Get This Party Started Momentum #25
Gone Welcome to Diverse City #6
The Slam Welcome to Diverse City #3
Burn for You Welcome to Diverse City #11
Diverse City Welcome to Diverse City #19
Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy) Welcome to Diverse City #2
Burn For You (Remix) Renovating Diverse City #13
New World Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe #5
Boomin' Portable Sounds #7

Guest Appearances on Other Albums

Filmography

  • Momentum DVD (2002)

Music videos

All videos copyright ForeFront Records 2001-2007

Year Title Album Source
2001 Extreme Days Momentum YouTube Go
2001 Irene Momentum YouTube Go
2002 Get This Party Started Momentum YouTube Go
2005 Gone Welcome to Diverse City YouTube Go
2007 Boomin' Portable Sounds YouTube Go

With dc Talk

  • "The Hardway" (1992)
  • "Jesus is Just Alright" (1992)
  • "Luv is a verb" (1992)
  • "Colored People" (1995)
  • "Between You and Me" (1995)
  • "Jesus Freak" (1995)
  • "Minds Eye" (1995)
  • "Like it, Love it, Need it" (1995)
  • "Since I Met You" (1998)
  • "My Friend, So Long" (1998)
  • "Consume Me" (1998)

GMA Dove Awards

  • 2006 Rock Recorded Song of the Year for "The Slam"
  • 2005 Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year for "Welcome to Diverse City"
  • 2003 Short Form Music Video of the Year for "Irene"
  • 2002 Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year for "Somebody's Watching"
  • 2002 Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year for "Momentum"

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ Christianrock.net News
  5. ^ T-bone Music Video "Name Droppin'" featuring Toby Mac
  6. ^ ForeFront Records news release
  7. ^ ForeFront Records news release
  8. ^ Rapzilla.com Hip Hope 2008 Announced
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