• TobyMac
• Brandon Heath
• Mandisa
• Chris August
• Britt Nicole
• Jamie Grace
• Group 1 Crew

tobyMac: tobyMac wants to start a revolution, one that will sweep through cities and erase the divisive lines that keep people and cultures apart. Holding up his microphone like a fist in the air, this Grammy-winning artist sees his opportunity in the society-shaping power of music. As a true artist, it's not his impressive sales heights or awards that fire up his voice, but rather it's an unwavering quest to make songs that connect and inspire all who hear them. Crafting the perfect songs to match his vision, tobyMac ignites the first spark with Welcome to Diverse City.

Accentuating his celebrated career with dc talk, tobyMac made his solo bow in 2001 with the Grammy-nominated Momentum. The disc marked a return to tobyMac's hip-hop roots, the very style with which dc talk first emerged, and yet the rapper-singer once again finds himself branching out from this base. As the title implies, Diverse City is an album bursting with musical flavors and nuances, and yet this stylistic blend finds unity through faith as it's threaded through a melding urban rock and hip-hop frame. Reaching into a world of different sounds and cultures, this album knits it all together with a genuine artist's touch.

"I'm not on a mission to flex musical diversity as much as possible, but I don't fear it," admits the emcee. "I don't fear where the music is taking me. There's a blending going on as I drop it all in the pot making what I call musical gumbo."

Case in point, the title track recalls a time when disco rolled into funk and groups like the Gap Band and Parliament rocked the perfect party soundtracks. Building upon this throwback style, tobyMac infuses new life with raps, hooks, and melodies that transform the party energy into a celebration of races united as a single city on a shining hill. After moving feet with its retro revival touches, the album trades in the dancing shoes for bangin' heads as "Slam" and "Phenomenon" surge with rock guitars, explosive vocals, and anthem-like choruses. Then, as a song that feels like summertime in a cup, "Gone" uses a progressive west coast pop style to tell about a friend who gave her disrespectful boyfriend the curbside-kick.

"My style is diversity, it always has been," says tobyMac, who co-produced the album along with such notables as Chris Stevens, Paul Meany, Robert Marvin, Mike Linney, Joe Baldridge, and Solomon Olds. "It's about taking hip-hop and injecting pop melodies and guitars and harmonicas and whatever else it takes to make the song fit the message I'm trying to communicate."

In regards to the message, the new album reflects a shift in the way he expresses ideas. Whereas past albums tended to tackle issues in a more universal manner, Welcome to Diverse City takes a closer look at specific people, sometimes himself, problems, and situations as real life backdrops to the lyrics. This approach, which exudes a more personal touch, adds empathy to a tale of loneliness ("Atmosphere"), urgency to a call for change ("Getaway Car"), and humor to a frustrated confession of days short on time ("Gotta Go"). The album's most personal song, "Burn For You," even tackles the renewed life that tobyMac experienced after adopting twins two years ago.

"In the past I dealt head-on with social issues, but I'm starting to see that social issues come down to real lives," says tobyMac. "As you dig into personal issues and find resolve in God, social issues will begin to take care of themselves."

Throughout the 90s, tobyMac achieved considerable success with his Grammywinning group dc talk, stockpiling a number of gold and platinum albums with seven million combined copies sold. As the group moved into the rearview window, tobyMac boldly stepped out on his own with his solo debut, Momentum. Earning rave reviews from Billboard to CCM Magazine, the 2001 album debuted atop the Billboard Heatseekers chart, sold over 400,000 copies, and landed two number one singles, "Extreme Days" and "Somebody's Watching Me." The DC born artist went on to win several Dove Awards, including Producer of the Year, and two BMI honors as Christian Songwriter of the Year.

In 2002, tobyMac complemented his debut with the holiday single This Christmas and the Momentum DVD, while Re:Mix Momentum, which delivered three more Top 10 hits, followed in 2003. That same year, Momentum lived up to its name as tobyMac topped CCM Magazine's 25 Most Important Artists Shaping Christian Music Today and placed fourth on their 25 Powerful People Who Have Made Christian Music What It Is Today. He also made the cut for Christian Radio Weekly's 50 Most Influential People Today and was named one of the Top 50 Evangelical Leaders of This Generation by Christianity Today.

During these past few years, tobyMac toured incessantly as a headliner in addition to co-headlining with Kirk Franklin and sharing stages with Third Day, among others. Showing everyone he's more than just "talk," tobyMac put his artistic vision and values back into action with Welcome to Diverse City, another album living up to its title.

"People fashion a great city by holding tight the beauty of our differences with the bonds of our unity," he concludes. "My new album invites people to ponder how they relate to each other and to God and how He relates to them, but at the same time, I know it's gonna drop a bomb that'll make any listener feel the energy.

Now that's celebrating Diverse City!

Toby Mac: The ascension of TobyMac’s solo career has been nothing short of spectacular. In an era of declining music sales he has consistently defied the odds and has seen his sales increase with each new album release. This is no small feat. With his fourth studio album TONIGHT set to release on Feb. 9, he is poised to take things higher yet again.

Having climbed the mountain once with the group dcTalk (4 Grammys, more than 8 million albums sold), TobyMac knows how difficult the journey can be and how much work the process actually takes. Rarely does an artist get to soar to great heights for a second time, but soar he has. He took home his first Grammy as a solo artist last year after receiving Grammy nominations for each of his first three solo projects (Momentum, Welcome To Diverse City, Portable Sounds). And last year TobyMac topped 2 million in total albums sold during his solo career. He has done it with a combination of talent, hard work and humility which has produced songs that resonate with people from all walks of life .

Upon embarking on his solo career, Toby sought to surround himself with a talented and diverse cast of characters, aptly named the Diverse City Band. The result has been a musical fusion that radiates with an unquenchable energy and a penetrating message.

A self-professed perfectionist when making records—he’s been known to relentlessly tweak and massage every little thing in an inexorable effort to make it sound better—Toby is the first to admit that he has to work really hard to make great music. “That’s what drives me,” he says. “I feel like I have to work harder than other people to get there. Sometimes I feel like I’m slightly under-gifted; I usually don't sit down and write a great song in just a few minutes like others can. But I think my work ethic makes up for that.”

Starting with dcTalk, and then going solo when the group disbanded in 2000, Toby still clings to such rootsy notions as hard work, persistence, patience and—perhaps most relevant of all—the power of music, which he insists is still what keeps him going.

“It’s the truth,” he says. “I still believe that a song can penetrate a heart. I believe God can use a song to open someone’s mind and heart. Other songs can just drop what I call, 'the joy bomb' on somebody. I fight really hard to remain unjaded—to keep believing that you can actually walk into a studio and write a song that breathes life. That’s the hardest fight for a guy who’s been doing this for a while; it’s easy to fall into the trap of just making it your job. But I still believe that songs matter.” The songs on TONIGHT certainly matter—everything from the prayerful first single “City On Our Knees” to the testimonial “Changed Forever,” from the worshipful “Captured” to the confessional “Start Somewhere,” and even down to the put-on-your-party-hat grooves of “Funky Jesus Music” and “ShowStopper.” One theme that runs loud and clear throughout is the idea that we all need God, and we need him now—this morning, this afternoon, tonight.

“Right here, right now / Under the stars / I promise You my heart / ’Cause it starts tonight,” Toby sings on the chorus of the title track. “If you gotta start somewhere why not here? If you gotta start sometime why not now?” he asks on “City on Our Knees.” And “I wanna straighten this before the sun goes down tonight,” he proclaims on “Start Somewhere.”

“There’s definitely a sense of urgency on this record,” says co-producer Chris Stephens, who has worked on TobyMac’s last three CDs. “And it’s an album that speaks of unity, of coming together and finding common ground to worship God.”

Toby has long had a passion for racial reconciliation and unity, a recurrent theme in his music. TONIGHT includes songs of reconciliation of another kind—between husband and wife. Toby and Amanda have been happily married for 15 years, but like all couples, it can be hard work sometimes. For Toby, who best expresses his emotions through music, it was a natural step to write about it. In “Hold On,” he sings, “If you move just a little bit closer / You can put your head on my shoulder . . . / Wipe away those tears / This one’s for you.” And on “Start Somewhere,” he’s downright confessional: “I said some things that I regret / And if I could, I’d take ’em back / But here I am, and there you are / The space between us is not so far / I’m reaching out my hand in love.”

“‘Hold On’ is very personal,” Toby says. “Many lines are there to encourage my wife, but I know those lines could encourage anybody in a relationship. As for ‘Start Somewhere,’ any time you’re in love with somebody, you’re going to bang heads from time to time. I don’t know how many times I’ve been lying in bed, sweating it out and thinking, How am I going to make this right? But then you reach that moment of apology and forgiveness. That’s one of my favorite songs on the record; it’s a personal perspective on confrontation and reconciliation.”

And then there’s “Wonderin’,” in which Toby reminisces about the past with Kevin Max and Michael Tait in dcTalk, one of Christian music’s biggest acts in the 1990s. “We was ridin’ in style, clockin’ them miles / With the songs that He put down deep in our hearts . . . / I’m wonderin’ ’bout the way I spend my days / Wonderin’ if it’s even worth the chase / Wonderin’ if they’re stealin’ me from you.”

“It’s just a warm look back at dc Talk,” says Toby, almost wistfully. “It’s reminiscing about Michael and Kevin and what we did together, and recognizing their influence on me. I love what I do today, but there are times when I wonder,What if we stayed together? I’ve got these dreams I’m pursuing now, but are they stealing me from you? I think about Kevin and Michael on every song I write. That's the truth man, we climbed a mountain together.”

Sonically, TONIGHT is typical TobyMac in many ways—an eclectic mix of rap, rock, pop and funk, all laden with catchy hooks and melodies just itching for airplay and audience singalongs. There’s even a healthy dose of reggae on the album closer “Break Open the Sky,” where Toby flexes his Jamaican family ties while Israel Houghton provides guest vocals. Other visiting vocalists include Skillet’s John Cooper on “Tonight” and Relient K’s Matthew Thiessen on “Wonderin’.”

Of course most of the vocals belong to the artist himself. Stephens says Toby “has stretched himself as a vocalist, he writes about things he is passionate about and his vocals reflect that urgency''. Toby agrees: “I do more singing on this record than ever before. I’m learning to use my vocal instrument in different ways, and I’m getting more comfortable with it everyday''.

It all adds up to a project that reflects one man’s desire to push himself beyond “very good,” to dig deep in the quest for that other country where greatness resides. He certainly reached for it. Hard.

“I’ve worked very hard not to fall into the trap of making this just a gig,” he says. “If it is a labor, it’s a labor of love. I know music can’t change the world, but who says God can't speak through a song."

Right here, right now. TONIGHT.

Jamie-Grace: Jamie Grace, a 19-year-old singer-songwriter who is appearing as part of Women of Faith’s popular “Revolve Tour,” has been signed by Gotee Records, helmed by Joey Elwood and multiple GRAMMY ® winner TobyMac. Gotee Records’ will also launch Jamie Grace’s debut Hold Me e.p. digitally on February 22, with plans for a full project release in fall 2011.

Hailing from outside of Atlanta in Lithonia, Georgia, Jamie is a college student who aside from her career and touring as a singer-songwriter, is also studying children’s ministry. At age 11, Jamie Grace was diagnosed with Tourettes Syndrome, and has since traveled the country sharing her story and faith through music and speaking.