TobyMac

He was nominated for Artist of the Year at the 34th GMA Dove Awards.

Toby McKeehan (born Kevin Michael McKeehan; October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC), is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer.

He was first known for being a member of the Christian rap and rock trio DC Talk, staying with them from 1987 until they went on hiatus in 2000.

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.

He has since continued a successful solo career with the release of nine studio albums: Momentum (2001), Welcome to Diverse City (2004), Portable Sounds (2007), Tonight (2010), Christmas in Diverse City (2011), Eye on It (2012), This Is Not a Test (2015), The Elements (2018), and Life After Death (2022) as well as five remixed albums: Re:Mix Momentum (2003), Renovating Diverse City (2005), Dubbed and Freq'd: A Remix Project (2012), Eye'm All Mixed Up (2014) and The St. Nemele Collab Sessions (2019).

DC Talk disbanded in 2001 and its members embarked on solo careers.

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.

In 2002, he performed at the Festival Con Dios.

Later that year, he released his first Christmas single, "This Christmas".

He was featured on "Throw Yo Hands Up" on Kirk Franklin's 2002 album The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin.

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.

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.

In 2005, the band performed together at a show in Redmond, Washington, and again in 2010 when he made a surprise guest appearance at Winter Jam in Nashville.

His "Winter Wonder Slam Tour" played throughout December 2006.

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.

He also has two full-length Christmas albums: Christmas in Diverse City (2011) and Light Of Christmas (2017).

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.

In 2011, he joined Tait on the song "Jesus Freak" in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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.