{"id":891,"date":"2007-03-09T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-09T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2007\/03\/tobymac-sounds-off.html"},"modified":"2007-03-09T11:45:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-09T11:45:00","slug":"tobymac-sounds-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/03\/tobymac-sounds-off.html","title":{"rendered":"TobyMac ‘Sounds’ Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an industry where artists are increasingly trying to redefine themselves just to stay alive, contemporary Christian music artist TobyMac<\/a> is the only singer from DC Talk, a Christian boy band of the early 90s, who has made a successful transition to being a solo artist. With a style some might call “Eminem-lite,” he’s released two gold-selling recordings in the last few years, and he is already getting lots of airplay and strong reviews for his latest effort, “Portable Sounds.” With a mix of pop, hip hop, and a tiny bit of rock, TobyMac gives longtime fans what they’re looking for–a tried and true formula of slick, high-energy, positive songs that stay true to his Christian roots.<\/p>\n

While TobyMac has often said in interviews<\/a> that one of his passions is to bring more hip hop music to the Christian music industry, I have to say that the tracks that stand out the most on “Sounds” are the ones with more of a pop flavor. Songs like “Made to love” and “Suddenly” are catchy yet sincere in their reflections on the nature of God, and a song like “One World” may not be destined for mainstream success, but it does reflect a certain worldview maturity in comparison to some of the singer\u2019s past efforts.<\/p>\n

My quibbles with “Sounds” come on the hip hop\/rap songs like “Hype Man” and “Feelin’ So Fly” that feel a little dated and contrived while a song like “No Signal” just feels a little bit silly. But then I listened to the two songs on “Sounds” that really rock–“Boomin'” and “Ignition,” and I was transported back to the days when I (and everyone else I knew) listened to TobyMac growl and shout on the classic Christian anthem “Jesus Freak.”<\/p>\n

Both “Boomin'” and “Ignition” have the same intensity but with a little more sophistication and a little less cheese. They are bound to become the new anthems of a new generation as well as the kind of music that may keep the Christian music industry alive and well–for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an industry where artists are increasingly trying to redefine themselves just to stay alive, contemporary Christian music artist TobyMac is the only singer from DC Talk, a Christian boy band of the early 90s, who has made a successful transition to being a solo artist. With a style some might call “Eminem-lite,” he’s released…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-music"],"yoast_head":"\nTobyMac 'Sounds' Off<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/03\/tobymac-sounds-off.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TobyMac 'Sounds' Off\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an industry where artists are increasingly trying to redefine themselves just to stay alive, contemporary Christian music artist TobyMac is the only singer from DC Talk, a Christian boy band of the early 90s, who has made a successful transition to being a solo artist. 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