Preview: TobyMac
March 8, 2018
By: Kate Dolan
What do you think of when you hear the name TobyMac? I think for me, and many other people my age whose parents listened to stations like KLove and Air1 religiously, I almost feel as if TobyMac raised me. Whenever I hear songs like “Boomin” or “Jesus Freak” I am instantly transported back to morning car rides on the way to school dancing and singing my little heart out. I even remember the first album I downloaded onto my iPod shuffle, and it was TobyMac’s 2007 hit record Portable Sounds. Suffice it to say I was more than a little excited to hear he was coming here, to Liberty University, for a one of a kind concert.
So who is this guy TobyMac, really? If you don’t know the answer to that question, you may not have been at Liberty long enough. Toby Kevin Michael Mckeehan is not only one of the foundational and best known Christian hip-hop artists of our time, but he also is a Liberty Flame and Northern Virginia native. He got his start here at Liberty with a band made up of him and fellow students Michael Tait and Kevin Max Smith, eventually calling themselves dcTalk. They went on to win major awards in both the secular and Christian music arenas, but that was just the beginning for TobyMac.
After going solo in 2001, following over a decade with dcTalk, for TobyMac the ball just kept rolling. He broke further into genres and styles virtually untouched in the past by Christian artists, and people loved it. His songs gave people something to dance to that simultaneously gave them messages of hope and faith. From his first solo album Momentum in 2001 all the way to his newly released single “I just need U.”, TobyMac has always found a way to make his music appeal to every generation. It’s the type of music I can play in the car with my grandma and instead of being told to “turn down that racket” I am instead encouraged to turn it up so we can rock out together. He is the type of artist that doesn’t fall behind or become outdated, rather setting the standard for others to follow.
TobyMac was always ahead of the curve, paving ways musically for those to follow him. He made Christian music “cool” and got people talking. He made it onto MTV, to the top of the Billboard charts, and even won seven Grammy awards along the way, but something was different. He was talking about Jesus while doing it.
Come out and see the man, the myth, the legend, TobyMac perform on April 7th at 7:30 at the Vines Center. This is the kind of concert you don’t want to miss!