Kevin Michael "Toby" McKeehan (born October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Widely regarded as one of the most influential Christian artists of all time, he was a member of the Christian rap-rock trio DC Talk, staying with them from 1987 until they went on hiatus in 2000. He has since continued a successful solo career with the release of ten studio albums, He became the third Christian artist to have a No. 1 debut on Billboard 200 chart with Eye on It.
Between DC Talk and his own solo career, he has sold more than 10 million albums and won seven Grammy Awards. He has had six No. 1 hit CHR singles including "Gone", "Made to Love", and "Lose My Soul". Six singles have gone to No. 1 on Billboard's Christian Songs chart, making him one of the artists with the most No. 1 hits on that chart. 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. His fifth studio album, Eye on It, received a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 2013 Grammys, along with his sixth album, This Is Not a Test winning the same award at the 2016 Grammys.
His touring band is named Diverse City.
Kevin Michael McKeehan was born on 22 October, 1964, in Fairfax, Virginia. He was raised in a Christian family. He studied political science at Liberty University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1988. He became a committed Christian during his studies and formed DC Talk with classmate Michael Tait in 1987. While Christian hip-hop was not accepted by some churches, the group had the support of the university's founder, Jerry Falwell. Falwell supported the group by providing a letter of recommendation that facilitated the performance of church concerts and events.
TobyMac formed DC Talk with Michael Tait in 1987 at Liberty University. He and Tait released Christian Rhymes to a Rhythm in 1988 and recruited classmate Kevin Max Smith to join the group. The trio then signed with Forefront Records and set out on tour after they released DC Talk in 1989. In 1990, they released Nu Thang, their first gold album which was followed with a tour. The follow-up, Free at Last, was certified platinum and the band gained popularity after they performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Arsenio Hall Show.
In 1994, with Todd Collins and Joey Elwood, he founded the first Christian hip-hop label Gotee Records.
They released their next album, Jesus Freak, in 1995, which went multi-platinum and led to the Jesus Freak World Tour and a tour CD, Welcome to the Freak Show. Following the release of "Between You and Me" which reached No. 29 on the Hot 100 in 1996, the group released Supernatural, which would be their last album. The album was certified platinum. In 2001, the group released Solo, a collection of their solo attempts. They recorded a cover of "40," originally by U2. This was the last recording before they went on hiatus.
DC Talk went on hiatus in 2001 and its members embarked on solo careers. In 2005, the trio performed together at a show in Redmond, Washington, and again in 2010 when he made a surprise guest appearance at Winter Jam in Nashville. In 2011, he joined Tait on the song "Jesus Freak" in Greensboro, North Carolina. DC Talk has recorded several songs together since their hiatus, including 2002's "Let's Roll", a song about the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, "Atmosphere (Remix)" on his 2004 album Welcome to Diverse City, "The Cross", a track on Kevin Max's 2007 album The Blood, "Love Feels Like", a track on TobyMac's 2015 album This Is Not a Test, and "Space" on TobyMac's album Life After Death.
On November 6, 2001, he released his first solo album: Momentum. He composed and recorded the song "Extreme Days" for the 2001 Truth Builder Productions film Extreme Days, which was featured on the Momentum album. Momentum, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in the November 24 issue. The song "Extreme Days" was also used in the movie Hangman's Curse, based on a book by Frank Peretti. His song "Get This Party Started" was featured on an episode of the TV show Roswell. His song "Yours" reached the Top 5 on ChristianRock.net. "Yours", "Extreme Days", "Get This Party Started" and "Momentum" were all featured in the Xbox 360 video game Crackdown. "Momentum" earned five Dove Awards and a Grammy nomination. He was nominated for Artist of the Year at the 34th GMA Dove Awards.
In 2002, he performed at the Festival Con Dios. Later that year, he released his first Christmas single, "This Christmas". In 2003, he released Re:Mix Momentum, a remix of the album Momentum. His song "Yours" was used in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as "Sting's" theme song. He was featured on "Throw Yo Hands Up" on Kirk Franklin's 2002 album The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin.
Welcome to Diverse City (2004–2006)
Welcome to Diverse City was released in October 2004 and is certified gold. The album debuted and peaked on the Billboard 200 at No. 54, selling 21,000 copies that week. His "Winter Wonder Slam Tour" played throughout December 2006. The album's 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. Former Ohio Valley Wrestling performer Matt Cappotelli used "The Slam" as his entrance theme. "Diverse City" was featured in the Veronica Mars episode The Wrath of Con, as well as Konami's Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 4. "Atmosphere" and "Burn For You" were also used on different commercials. The album gave him another Dove Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year. A remix version of the album, Renovating->Diverse City, was released in 2005.
McKeehan's third studio album, Portable Sounds, was released in 2007 and sold 50,645 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, and at No. 1 on the SoundScan Contemporary Christian Overall chart. The album also received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album. He won rock/contemporary album of the year for "Portable Sounds" at the 39th annual GMA Dove Awards. The songs "Made to Love" and "I'm For You" both hit No. 1 and were the second and third most played songs on Christian Hit Radio stations in 2007. "Hype Man (truDog '07)" features his son Truett. "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. In September 2007, his song "Feelin' So Fly" appeared in the film The Game Plan, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. "Ignition" received worldwide exposure when it was used as the Arizona Cardinals entrance music during the pre-game of Super Bowl XLIII. He was awarded two Dove Awards for his work on this album, including Artist of the Year. His music video featuring the song "Boomin" was awarded a Dove Award for Short Form Music Video of the Year. Around this time, he wrote his song, "New World" for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and co-wrote and recorded the song "What We Gonna Do?" for the VeggieTales film The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. "Feelin' So Fly" and "I'm for You" appear in Thrillville: Off the Rails.
Alive and Transported (2008–2009)
He released his first live album as a solo artist in 2008. Alive and Transported was a live recording of the Portable Sounds Tour in Houston, Texas. It included covers of popular DC Talk songs "Jesus Freak" and "In the Light". The album included a DVD of the concert and gained him a GMA Dove and a Grammy Award.