“If we’re gonna be that city on a hill,” tobyMac shouts from the stage in Nashville, Tenn., “we have to be a diverse city.”
But this rapper-singer isn’t talking about the “tolerate everything” brand of diversity the world often promotes. He’s challenging Christians to take to heart an important truth: “The body is not made up of one part but of many” (1 Corinthians 12:14).
“We all have different gifts,” tobyMac points out. “And while we look different on the outside and speak in different tongues, believers share one hope in one Creator: the God of the Universe.”
He then launches his vision with songs from his current album, Welcome to Diverse City, which infuses an innovative blend of funk, hip-hop and rock melodies. The crowd goes wild as he performs the title cut:
Now come to the city where you can praise / If you’re black, if you’re white, if you’re yellow or gray / In the morning, in the night, anytime of day / What’s that Place? Diverse City / With curls in your hair and braids on the side / Straight shake ‘em loose, just come on and ride / We’re a body with parts, like you and me / Together we make diversity
tobyMac has returned to his dc Talk roots, but with a fresh twist.
“I don’t fear where the music is taking me,” tobyMac tells Breakaway during an interview after the show. “There’s a blending going on as I drop it all in the pot, making what I call musical gumbo.” Yet this veteran artist is quick to point out that his diversity in music and style isn’t what motivates him. Instead, tobyMac says he’s out to ignite a revolution that will erase the divisive lines that keep people apart.
“ ‘Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness,’ ” tobyMac shares from 1 John 2:9. “Whether it’s racially motivated or the fact that someone doesn’t measure up to a man-made standard of beauty or intelligence, the Lord doesn’t tolerate hate. Instead, He calls us to love each other and to respect our God-given differences.
“My message and my style is diversity, it always has been,” he continues. “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.”
Breakaway heads backstage for an up close and personal look at this veteran musician. Here’s what tobyMac has to say in his own words about his art, his faith and his passion for godly diversity.
MUSIC: Diversity Is the Key
My new album invites people to ponder how they relate to each other and to God. In the past, I dealt head-on with social issues. But now I’m starting to see that social issues involve real people and real lives. And the problems that we all relate to the most are those that relate to the heart.
WORK: My Record Label
Gotee Records grew out of dc Talk’s downtime.
You see, making a record is about a two-and-a-half-year process for us. Many artists take time off between projects, which, I think, is a healthy thing.
So, during one of those downtimes several years ago, two guys — Todd Collins, our manager/engineer and Joey Elwood, our producer — along with myself, ended up brainstorming an idea: What if we started a label that was very artist-driven? Our vision was to create a company that makes the art and the ministry the most important thing, not just marketing.
Several months later as we were setting our plans in motion, we met three talented ladies who called themselves Out of Eden. We signed these artists and launched Gotee Records.
Soon, other musicians followed: Jennifer Knapp, Relient K and John Reuben. The common thread through Gotee acts is that these are groups that have a heart to share Jesus through their music. That’s pretty much an unstated requirement of Gotee Records. The truth is, I’m only attracted to artists who have a desire to share Jesus through their lives and through their art.
GOALS: I Want to Live Christ
I want to live Jesus — not only through my art but in my life — every day of the week. It’s important for people to know that. A lot of times they see me as just “big business and lights,” but I know that’s not real life. Reality is who I am in Jesus and how I’m living that day to day.
