Toby+Mac+Interview

​ Kevin Michael "Toby" McKeehan** (born October 22, 1964 in Fairfax, Virginia), professionally known as **TobyMac**, is a popular Grammy Award-winning artist, producer and songwriter. TobyMac is one of the very first Christian rappers. He was first known for being a member of the Christian singing 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:Mx Momentum// and //Renovating Diverse City,// singles 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. [] ** Musical career **
 * Toby Mac

DC Talk
//in 1987. 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 had 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, comments from the band members, most notably from Kevin Max, have implied that CD 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 TobyMac'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 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 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. The album also received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album. 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

media type="custom" key="5005607" width="179" height="168"
 * Studio albums **
 * //Momentum// (2001) [[image:TobyMac-Momentum500px.jpg align="right"]]
 * //Welcome to Diverse City//(2004)
 * //Portable Sounds// (2007)
 * //Tonight// (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"
 * "Extreme Days"
 * "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" [[image:tobymac-3.jpg width="426" height="402" align="right"]]
 * "I'm for You"
 * "Lose My Soul"
 * "City on Our Knees"
 * "Showstopper"

** 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//"