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Toby McKeehan, or tobyMac, as he is professionally known, grew up in northern Virginia suburbs in the shadow of Washington, D.C., where he fell in love with rap and hip hop. While attending Liberty University at Lynchburg, VA, in the mid 1980s, he met Michael Tait and Kevin Max Smith (aka/ Kevin Max), and the three friends formed the highly influential Christian pop group dc talk, which mixed elements of gospel, grunge and hip hop into an immensely successful hybrid. When dc talk ended in 1999, Mac went solo, releasing the well-received Momentum in 2001. A mixture of urban rock and hip hop, Momentum garnered five Dove Awards and a Grammy nomination, and spawned the remix album, Re: Mix Momentum, which saw light in 2003. Following pretty much the same formula, and even adding in a little dancehall reggae, McKeehan released Welcome to Diverse City in 2004. The formula worked again: the album landed Tobymac a Dove Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year. Welcome to the Diverse City received its own album-length remix in August 2005 with the release of Renovating-Diverse City. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide |
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