It has been three years since TobyMac released his last album, "Eye On It," and he's excited to be on the road with the new one, "This is Not a Test."
"We've been in the studio working on the music for a year and half," TobyMac says recently by phone. "I liken it to being in a cave and just walking out of that cave and kind of holding up the new songs like, 'Here it is,' and hoping and praying the whole time that it resonates with people."
FAQ
TobyMac:
‘This is Not a Test’
WHEN — 7 p.m. Sunday
WHERE — Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers
COST — $26-$65
INFO — arkansasmusicpavili…
CCM Magazine calls TobyMac's album artful and culturally relevant in a review of the new CD: "The singer/songwriter/rapper/producer continues to be a trendsetter when it comes to brilliantly walking the tightrope between pop, rock, hip-hop and EDM while always injecting a meaningful message."
More than half of the songs on "This is Not a Test" feature live horns, so the band will include a full horn section for this tour, something the musician has never done in his previous five albums as TobyMac. He says this album is multi-faceted, with elements of funk, hip-hop, soul and rock, and he needed a band that could do all of that.
"I'm never one of those guys who says, 'This is my best work yet,' because I put everything I have into every CD I've made," he says. "But [this record] has a lot of depth in the songs; there's a richness in the lyrical content on this one. And seven out of 10 people have told me they think this is the best record I've made, so that's really encouraging."
The contemporary Christian recording artist has won six Grammy awards and has more than 11 million units in career sales, but he says being famous was never the end goal.
"All of this kind of snuck up on me. [The music] isn't like an ego-filling thing for me; I looked at it like a job like anyone else would have," Toby says. "I see it as something that has been trusted to me instead of something I attained. And because of that, I look at it like how can I best serve people with this music and cause them to think and turn their eyes to God?"
The "This is Not a Test" tour started yesterday and will continue through December with artists Britt Nicole, Colton Dixon of "American Idol" fame and newcomer Hollyn joining TobyMac. Toby says he loves being on tour with the opening artists because they all have a similar mindset. This will be the second concert tour for Britt Nicole, who was the most-played female artist on Christian radio in 2012, and the second post-Idol tour for Dixon, whose debut album, "A Messenger," was the No. 1 selling album by a new Christian artist.
"They're both amazing artists and really focused on what they do," Toby says. "Britt really communicates well to girls and connects with issues they might be going through, and Colton is an unbelievable singer and songwriter. They're just great people, too."
As a Christian artist, Toby says he stays grounded in his faith by keeping an honest dialogue with the friends in his life and by spending time reading his Bible every morning. He says his music is something bigger than himself, but that doesn't mean it is only for Christians.
"My show is really for everybody," Toby says. "I want everybody to feel like they're welcome at a TobyMac and Diversity concert. I don't write music for a niche Christian audience; it's stuff I'm going through, and it's not that different from what's going on in other people's lives. This isn't like a church show -- it's entertainment. I want people to be absolutely, positively entertained to the nines!
"I hope that people leave my show sweaty because they've been dancing all night, hoarse because they've been singing all night, but also feeling refreshed in their spirit. I hope that my music falls on open ears; it's really for everybody. When those things happen, that's when I can say, yeah, that was a good show."
NAN What's Up on 10/02/2015