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tobyMac

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TobyMac
Real name Kevin Michael McKeehan
Born October 22, 1964
Origin Fairfax, Virginia
Died N/A
Label(s) ForeFront Records, founded Gotee Records
Albums 7
Singles 20
Genre(s)
Years active 1987 - present
Associated acts

Kevin Michael "Toby" McKeehan, professionally known as tobyMac, is a rap, hip hop, and rock artist from Nashville, Tennessee. He was born in Fairfax, Virginia on October 22, 1964.[1] He was known for being a member of the trio dc Talk from 1987 to its hiatus in 2000. He has since had a very successful solo career.

Contents

BiographyEdit

Early lifeEdit

Kevin was born on October 22, 1964 in Fairfax, Virginia. He grew up in Annandale, Virginia. He attended elementary at Pine Ridge Elementary. He then attended Luther Jackson Intermediate for the first few months of his fourth grade school year. Both of these schools are mentioned in his song "Extreme Days". He would later attend Liberty University where he would meet Kevin Max and Michael Tait.

dc TalkEdit

Kevin McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max formed the trio dc Talk in the year 1987. The trio's original sounds was Christian hip-hop. However, that partially changed after the release of their guitar-heavy album Jesus Freak in 1995. This album was a significant milestone, selling over two million copies, making it a double platinum record.

Dc Talk released a compilation album in 2001 called Intermission: the Greatest Hits put together when the group members started their "intermission." The members had begun pursuing individual careers, and at the time assured fans that dc Talk had not split up, but that they were simply taking "an intermission." It is now known, however, that dc Talk is not likely to 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 has reunited on several special occasions such as: performing the single 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 careerEdit

TobyMac's solo music differs from DC Talk's rock in that it is a more urban, hip-hop sound. It is similar to dc Talk's original sound such as on their albums dc Talk, Nu Thang, and Free at Last.

TobyMac
TobyMac in 2005
Master FredceriqueAdded by Master Fredcerique
Many of TobyMac's songs have appeared in both Christian and mainstream media. He composed and recorded the songs Extreme Days for the 2001 Truth Builder Productions film Extreme Days and the movie Hungman's Curse. He also wrote 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 used during a fight seen in the film Never Back Down, in advertisements for the films Transporter 2, Aeon Flux, and The Fast and the furiuos: Tokyo Drift, as well as in advertisements for the television show Prison Break. The song has also been featured in car commercials, men's NCAA clips, NBA Finals (Miami Heat 2006), WWE programming, NFL commercials, and The Ulimate Highlight on Sportscenter. The songs is also used by Ohio Valley Wrestling performer Matt Cappotelli. Another of TobyMac's songs, "Diverse City", was featured in the Veronica Mars episode The Wrath of Con. Many other songs of his have been used in commercials. "Atmosphere" was used in a Volvo car commercial, "Burn for You" was used for cinnamon gum and Dr. Phil commercials, "Ignition" is currently being used to promote ABC/ESPN's coverage of NASCAR, and "Boomin'" has been used to promote the new crime-drama The Women's Murder Club on ABC, as well as many others. The song "Get This Party Started" was used in an episode of the TV series Roswell. The songs "Yours", "Extreme Days", "Get This Party Started", and "Momentum" were recently used in the Xbox 360 game Crackdown. In September 2007 the song "Feelin' So Fly" appeared in the movie The Game Plan. Tampa Bay Rays player Ben Zobrist used "Ignition" as his entrance song when he got up to bat during the 2008 and early 2009 seasons (he has since switched to a song by his wife). The song received world-wide fame when it was used as the entrance song for the Arizona Cardinals during Super Bowl XLIII.

Other workEdit

TobyMac has written two books with former bandmates Michael Tait and Kevin Max entitled Jesus Freaks: dc Talk and The Voice of the Matyrs - Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus, The Ultimate Jesus Freaks[2] and Jesus Freak: Revolutionaries: Stories of Revolutionaries Who Changed Their World Fearing God, Not Man (Jesus Freaks).[3] These books were mainly focused on numerous stories of Christian martyrs. He has also written two more books with Michael Tait entitled Under God, telling stories of America's spiritual battles, and Living Under God: Discovering Your Part in God's Plan.

TobyMac is also president of Gotee Records, which he founded. However, he is under contract with ForeFront Records.

He also performs in "Rock the Universe" in Universal Studios and "Night of Joy" in Walt Disney World every September every year. Toby usually alternates between Rock the Universe and Night of Joy.

FutureEdit

TobyMac is planning on touring with Third Day, Michael W. Smith, and Max Lucado on the Make a Difference Tour.

Personal lifeEdit

Toby and his wife Amanda (Mandy) were married in 1994. Amanda is the daughter of Judy and Robert Levy and is from Jamaica. Therefore, Toby is well immersed with Jamaican culture. It, to an extent, shows in his music. Toby and Amanda live in Nashville, Tennessee.

They have five children: Truett, born September 6, 1998; twins Moses and Marlee, adopted in 2002; Leo, born November 2, 2004; and Judah, born March 24, 2006.

DiscographyEdit

Studio albumsEdit

Remix albumsEdit

Live albumsEdit

EPsEdit

SinglesEdit

Music videosEdit

  • "Get this Party Started"
  • "Irene"
  • "Extreme Days"
  • "Gone"
  • "Boomin'"
  • "Feelin' So Fly"
  • "Lose My Soul"

FilmographyEdit

Guest appearancesEdit

AwardsEdit

WOW HitsEdit

Grammy Award nominationsEdit

GMA Dove Award nominationsEdit

TriviaEdit

  • TobyMac's best friend is Michael Tait.
  • He has the names of the two other band members in dc Talk (Kevin Max & Michael Tait).
  • He got his name (Toby) from his older brother when, before he was born, would say tober, october, because the due date for Toby was in october.

External linksEdit


Interwiki linksEdit


ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ Washington Post | Giving Up Sports Has Never Sounded So Good
  2. ↑ Amazon.com: Jesus Freaks: Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus, the Ultimate Jesus Freaks: DC Talk and the Voice of the Martyrs: Books
  3. ↑ Amazon.com: Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries: Stories of Revolutionaries Who Changed Their World: Fearing God, Not Man (Jesus Freaks): dc Talk: Books


Retrieved from "http://heavenmusic.wikia.com/wiki/TobyMac?oldid=34380"
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