Kevin Michael "Toby" McKeehan
(born October 22, 1964 in Fairfax, Virginia), professionally known as TobyMac
, is a Grammy Award winning artist, producer, and songwriter. He was first known for being a member of the Christian trio DC Talk, staying with them from 1989 until their announced hiatus in 2000. He has since continued a successful solo career with the release of three studio albums: Momentum
(2001), Welcome to Diverse City
(2004), and Portable Sounds (2007)
, as well as two remixed albums of the first two albums titled Re:Mix Momentum
and Renovating Diverse City
, respectively. TobyMac has had six #1 hit CHR singles [1] including, "Made to Love," and, "Lose My Soul." His live concert CD+DVD combo album, Alive and Transported
, was released in 2008 and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album at the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009. [2]
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Musical career
DC Talk
The trio formed the band
DC Talk in 1987.
[3] DC Talk's original sound was
Christian hip-hop, but in 1995 they reinvented themselves with the release of the guitar-heavy
Jesus Freak
. Although they'd already won a Grammy for their earlier work, this album was a significant milestone, selling over two million copies, making it a double
platinum record.
DC Talk's latest album was released in 2001. 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, on TobyMac's second album
Welcome to Diverse City
(They appeared on the song "Atmosphere (Remix)"), and also on Kevin Max's album
The Blood
in the song "The Cross".
Solo career
Toby Mac'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
.
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 Toby Mac 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 the film
Never Back Down
, advertisements for the films
Transporter 2
,
Aeon Flux
, 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
.
"Diverse City" was featured in the
Veronica Mars episode,
The Wrath of Con.
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 commercials (as well as on a Dr. Phil advertisement), "Ignition" is being used by
ABC/
ESPN to promote its coverage of
NASCAR, and "Boomin'" has also been used to promote a new crime-drama,
The Women's Murder Club
, on ABC, as well as others. His song "Get This Party Started" was featured on an episode of the TV show
Roswell. 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. In the recent movie
Never Back Down Toby's song "The Slam" is featured in the main fight scene.
Tampa Bay Rays player
Ben Zobrist used "Ignition" as his entrance song when he came up to bat for the 2008 season and the first few games of the 2009 season (he has since switched it to a song by his wife). Recently, "Ignition" received worldwide exposure when it was used as the
Arizona Cardinals entrance music during the pre-game of
Super Bowl XLIII.
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 album also received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.
[5] The songs "Made to Love" and "I'm For You" both hit #1 and were the second and third most played songs on Christian Hit Radio stations in 2007.
[6]
Untitled fourth studio release
Toby's fourth studio release is expected to be out by February 2010. The album's single is entitled "City On Our Knees". The released date for "City On Our Knees" was August 14. "City On Our Knees" went number 1 on
Hot Christian Songs and 55 on Music overall. Chris Stevens and Dave Wyatt will join Toby in producing the album. They also joined Toby in the production of his 2007 release,
Portable Sounds. Truett, aka TruDog, Toby's oldest son, will once again be featured on at least one song like the previous albums. The album is expected to be a mix of
pop,
rock,
hip-hop, and
funk, a lot like
Portable Sounds. The only other known song aside from the single
Get Back Up
, is
Captured
. It is unknown if it will be a single or not. According to Toby's
Twitter account, Chris Stevens will be producing
Captured
while Toby's touring guitarist, Tim Roseanu, aka Timmy Rose, will be playing guitar on the track.
Other work
TobyMac has written two books with
Michael Tait and
Kevin Max entitled,
Jesus Freaks: DC Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs - Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus, the Ultimate Jesus Freaks
,
[7] and,
Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries: Stories of Revolutionaries Who Changed Their World: Fearing God, Not Man (Jesus Freaks)
.
[8]. These books are mainly focused on Christian martyrs. Toby Mac has also written two more books with Michael Tait, one titled, "Under
God,"
[9] containing stories of America's spiritual battles, and another book called, "Living Under God: Discovering Your Part In God's Plan."
[10]
TobyMac is also the president of the
record label Gotee Records. Gotee features artists such as
DJ Maj,
Relient K and
John Reuben. However, as a recording artist, TobyMac is under contract with
ForeFront Records.
Diverse City Band
Personal life
McKeehan and his wife Amanda (Mandy) were married in 1994.
[11] Amanda, who comes from Jamaica, is the daughter of Judy and Robert Levy (of Jamaica Broilers fame). "Being married to a Jamaican, and with regular visits to the island, TobyMac, is well immersed in Jamaican music, language and other aspects of local culture."
[12] Toby and Mandy live in
Nashville, Tennessee.
They have five children:
Truett, born September 4, 1998; twins Moses and Marlee were adopted in 2002; Leo, born on November 2, 2004
[13] and Judah, born March 24, 2006.
Truett has appeared on the albums
Momentum
,
Re:Mix Momentum
,
This Christmas
,
Welcome to Diverse City
,
Renovating Diverse City
and
Portable Sounds
as the artist "TruDog".
Discography
Studio albums
- Momentum
(2001)
- Welcome to Diverse City
(2004)
- Portable Sounds
(2007)
- Untitled
(2010)
Remix albums
- Re:Mix Momentum
(2002)
- Renovating Diverse City
(2005)
Live albums
- Alive and Transported
(2008)
Singles
- "Get This Party Started"
- "Irene"
- "Somebody's Watching"
- "This Christmas"
- "Burn For You"
- "Gone"
- "Phenomenon"
- "Diverse City"
- "Burn For You (Shortwave Radio Mix)"
- "Made to Love"
- "Ignition"
- "No Ordinary Love"
- "One World"
- "Boomin"
- "I'm for You"
- "Lose My Soul"
- "City On Our Knees"
WoW Hits
- 2002: Somebody's Watching
- 2003: Irene
- 2004: Phenomenon
- 2005: Gone
- 2006: Atmosphere (Remix) with DC Talk
- 2007: Burn For You (Shortwave Remix)
- 2008: Made to Love
- 2009: Lose My Soul
- 2010: City on Our Knees
Videography
- "Momentum DVD
"
- "Portable Sights
"
- "Alive and Transported
"
Awards
;
Grammy Award nominations
- 2003: Best Rock Gospel Album – Momentum
- 2005: Best Rock Gospel Album – Welcome to Diverse City
- 2008: Best Gospel Song – "Made to Love"
- 2008: Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album – Portable Sounds
- 2009: Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album (Alive and Transported
) – won
;
GMA Dove Award nominations
- 2002: Rap/Hip Hop Album (Momentum
)
- 2002: Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song ("Somebody's Watching Me")
- 2003: Short Form Music Video ("Irene")
- 2005: Rap/Hip Hop Album (Welcome to Diverse City
)
- 2006: Rock Recorded Song ("The Slam")
- 2006: Special Event Album of the Year (Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
)
- 2008: Artist of the Year
- 2008: Short Form Music Video of the Year ("Boomin'")
- 2009: Long Form Music Video of the Year (Alive and Transported
)
Music videos
- "Get this Party Started" (Momentum
)
- "Irene" (Momentum
)
- "Extreme Days" (Momentum
)
- "Gone" (Welcome to Diverse City
)
- "Boomin'" (Portable Sounds
)
- Feelin' So Fly
(Portable Sounds
)
- Lose my Soul
(Portable Sounds
)
Guest appearances
- "Let it Go
" by Kirk Franklin
- "I Am God
" by Kirk Franklin
- "Throw Yo Hands Up
" by Kirk Franklin
- "Addicted to Jesus
" by Carman
- "AKA Public School
" by Audio Adrenaline [video]
- "Name Droppin'
" by T-Bone [video]
- "Got to B Tru
" by Steven Curtis Chapman
- "Thank You
" by Rebecca St. James
- "God Is Not A Secret (ReMix)
" by Newsboys
- "Love Somebody
" by Mandisa
- "God Is Love
" by John Reuben
- "Day Like Today
" by Out Of Eden
- "What it To
" by The OC Supertones
- "Ohh, Ahh
" by GRITS
- "Can't Take it Away
" by DJ Maj
- "The Cross
" by Kevin Max
- "I Wanna Tell the World
" by Michael W. Smith
- "You Found Me
" by Israel Houghton
- "Party (Citizens Come Out)
" by Diverse Citizens
Filmography
- "Alive and Transported
"
- "Welcome to the Freak Show
"
- "Free at Last: the Movie
"
See also
- DC Talk
- Michael Tait
- Kevin Max
References
- Francesca Battistelli brings theater perspective to Christian music
- The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Winners List
- TobyMac Biography, dcTalkUnite.com; Retrieved March 27, 2008
- Christianrock.net News
- Grammys.com
- 2007 Year End Charts/Top Christian CHR songs, R&R magazine, Retrieved January 6 2008
- Amazon.com: Jesus Freaks: Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus, the Ultimate Jesus Freaks: DC Talk and the Voice of the Martyrs: Books
- Amazon.com: Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries: Stories of Revolutionaries Who Changed Their World: Fearing God, Not Man (Jesus Freaks): dc Talk: Books
- Amazon.com: Under God: Toby Mac, Michael Tait, Toby Mac: Books
- Amazon.com: Living Under God: Discovering Your Part in Gods Plan: Baker Publishing Group, Michael Tait: Books
- Biography of Gospel Hip Hop Artist tobyMac http://christianmusic.about.com/od/mzprofiles/p/prtobymac.htm Retrieved 2009-08-23
- Mind and Spirit - Chatting with a Christian ROCKER http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050101/ent/ent1.html Retrieved 2009-08-23
- Jesusfreakhideout.com: TobyMac Discography, TobyMac Lyrics, Toby Mac, Toby MacKeehan