Customer Reviews

Welcome to Diverse City

5 star:		(110)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Two years ago, I picked up Toby's CD MOMENTUM and was amazed; so many songs, all of them great. There are a couple of songs on the new CD, "Welcome to Diverse City", that I skip over occasionally, but all and all, Toby once again delivers the energy and skills that make him one of the best in the business!

The first words off the CD say it best: Toby's back!

If you haven't heard Tobymac, I suggest you check out this CD. And when ya get the chance, pick up "Momentum" too.

And now, by the track:

#1. Hey Now - Hard to keep from moving on this one. Smooth beat, nice change ups, and a great message make this song one of the best on the CD! One God, One People! Amen Toby and family! Great start to this second creation of the man from the Capital City.

#2. Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy) - Cathcy little tune! If you listen to this song and don't have the words "Whoopsi-Daisy" stuck in your head for the next three days, you may not be human. Hard beat and good rappin's make this another great addition to this CD.

#3. The Slam - Man it is cool to have LOUD Christian music to jam too while I drive my Ford ZX2 throught the city. This is one to try and shake the windows out of your vehicle. Toby really rocks on this one. Once again the change-ups and rappin' make this one a hit. I like the parts where the guitars let loose. If you don't like this song, check your pulse...something may be wrong.

#4. Poetically Correct - A little too slow for me, but a nice slow down after being SLAMMED. Not a bad, but really short song.

#5. Atmosphere - A great message about being down and the only One who can ever bring us up and leave us there. Just turn around and He'll be there.

#6. Gone - A great message about people being hypoctrites and losing what they had because of it. The beat and music are very catchy. I just hope that women all over the country don't start seeing this as a song to abandoned their spouses who forgot to do the dishes or something small. The message may be too simple in this one...relationships have many ups and downs. When men hear a song they hear the lyrics, analyze them, and move on. When women hear a song, often (okay, sometimes) they believe the song is written for them only. This song may cause some women to display a cold-shoulder to their significant other, if they read too much into it. Granted, in some cases, it is necessary, in others it may cause relationship strain where it is not really there.

#7. TruDog: The Return - TruDog rocks! Paid Happy Meal is well-deserved. Buy the CD and skip to this song first! It's cool.

#8. Diverse City - Good groove, with mass appeal. Can you think of any other faith that brings so many people together than faith in Jesus Christ. Yeah, we are a freak show...we know!

#9. Stories (Down to the Bottom) - Just what is says; stories about hitting rock bottom. Good thing there is someone out there who knows are pain. Put your hands up for this song that drives us to call upon the one who can put things back together.

#10. Getaway Car - Hmmmm...songs like this one have been done a little too much. Fast 70's beat with not much talent. This is the one song I think could have been left off the CD. Sorry Toby, you're still cool though.

#11. Burn For You - Good change up on this one. I need to hear this one a few more times before I can really grasp the message of this one. But I'll say this, it is very different from anything Toby, or anyone for that matter, has done before. Big change from "Getaway Car".

#12 Fresher Than A Night At The W - No Toby, were not sick of you! Please, feel free to sing about God all the time! We love it!

#13 Ill-M-I - great lyrics...as soon as I figure out what Toby's talking about, I'll let you know. Or if you know, e-mail me. My address is on my profile.

#14. Phenomenom - Very good song. "We rock whenever, we stop whenevers" Ya just can't stop this song - "It's a wonder that will never fade". Great beat, great everything....

#15. Gotta Go - No Toby, what were you thinking? You could have made about seven more tracks. Ya can't leave us hanging! Just kidding! Great job, TobyMac...keep up the amazing work you are doing for Jesus.

#16. Atmosphere (Remix with DC TALK!!!!!!!!!) - great close with the guys. DC Talk - when ya'll gonna get back together and rock AMERICA? We're ready! Bring it on! Toby, Michael, Kevin...I'm callin' ya'll out! Ya yellow?

But this CD, folks. Ya won't be sorry.

See ya next review.
Dan Blankenship
author of THE RUNNING GIRL

"Welcome to Diverse City" is clearly one of the best hip-hop albums the Christian music industry has ever seen. The production is brilliant, and almost every song is clever and catchy. The fine tuning of this album is as complete as it gets. TOBYMAC has clearly "brought it like it ain't been brung before" with Diverse City.

Right from the start, this album introduces you to a great song called "Hey Now," which is the perfect opener. From there it only gets better, with tracks like "Atmosphere," "Burn for You," "Stories," the Outkast sounding "Diverse City" and the instant classic "Getaway Car" to name only a few. This album has got me pumped up, inspired, and eager to share it with others. The passion Toby has for God is clearly seen in this album.

I hate to even name any negatives, but one thing did bother me a little. I regretfully say that Toby's adorable sounding son "Tru-dog" was ever-so slightly over played in the album, giving it an unnecessary touch of cuteness.

Besides that almost irrelevant negative, this album is a classic. Buy it if you haven't yet, I promise that you won't regret it.


God bless.

This is a keeper. In my opinion, you could even call this legendary, or at least a big step for the Christian music industry. The lyrics are uncompromising, the beats are as good as it gets anywhere, each song is tweaked to perfection, there is a perfect handful of guests, and we even get a little tease from dc Talk. Highlights include the painfully catchy "Catchafire (Woopsi-Daisy)", the Jesus Freak/Extreme Days sounding head-banger "Slam", #1 single "Gone", early dc Talk-ish tracks "Diverse City" and "Getaway Car", the classy "Stories", the brilliant hip-hop cover "Ill M I", the satisfyingly weird "Phenomenon", and "Atmosphere Remix", which of course features Michael Tait and Kevin Max of dc Talk. The new version sounds much better than the original, however I can't help but believe that Toby chose the wrong song to remix. The gorgeous rocker "Burn For You" is almost hard to listen to, much less enjoy, because it has "dc Talk" written all over it. Of course, this makes us cling to "Atmosphere Remix" even more as a mouth-watering tease. It's somewhat cruel... but excluding that issue, this disc is essentially perfect... though I would've liked to see the pretty acoustic mix of "Gone" and the original mix of "Phenomenon" appear at the end of the CD. Overall, "Welcome To Diverse City" should be head-to-head with Third Day's "Wire" in competition for a handful of Doves and a Grammy, if only the givers of such awards actually listened to music...

WOW!!! I got an advanced copy 3 days ago... I popped it into my car stereo and I almost ran up a tree. Every track could be released as a single. I would rate each song a 10/10.Not a single filler on the CD. Easily 10x's BETTER than MOMENTUM! The production of this project is top notch as well. It sounds like no expense was spared in making this project. I'm actually buy (NOT BURNING) multiple copies to give to some friends. TOBY MAC is is one of the best songwriters BAR-NONE....christian or secular. Period. I don't think he'll be an opening act for more than a few months on the Third Day tour. Toby will be headlining his own tour in no time.

*Favorite Tracks...
1-15

I still haven't gotten over that my boys (DC Talk) have broken up. But since they are still making music and occasionally appear on each other's albums via singing or songwriting, I still support them. Their first releases were all wonderful. I could not pinpoint which one was better since they all had their pluses (Tait's rocked, K-Max had some wild poetic stuff, and Toby had the hip-hop jam stuff). Now the guys are releasing their second set of albums. So far, I had gotten Tait's Losing this Life and it was about the same as last time with a little more emphasis on the U2. I haven't gotten to K-Max's yet but plan to.
But we come to Toby Mac and he really threw me for a loop. I thought I had him pegged down but this guy pulls out all the stops on this new album. I hear rock, rap, reggae, indian music, horns, etc.. And it all sounds absolutly fantastic. He even brought the boys back together for a remix of "Atmosphere". It was wonderful to hear these guys together again. The only complaint is not really a complaint but a preference. I wished that they remixed "Burn For You" instead since that one sounded more like a DC Talk song to me. But that's my opinion.
Hurry up and get back together!!! :-D

2004 has been a good year for Gotee Records. First came another stellar album from the sisters of Out of Eden. Then Coffee and Bonafide went and made their recent album Dichotomy A something similar to a Dirty South CD that truly delivered (I am anticipatiing Dichotomy B in Nov.). Then TobyMac returns to "serve up the sequel" to his solo debut album, "Momentum" with "Welcome To Diverse City," a CD that lyrically, musically, but more importantly spiritually outdoes his 2001 outing. I bought this CD six days ago, because of his single, "Phenomenom" on the WOW 2004 double disc CD, and now that I have it, I cannot stop listening to it.

When I first put it in my CD player, I was hooked the very instant "Hey Now," the first track came on. As the previous reviewer said, this song is reminiscent of a Nelly track. Next came "Catchafire (Whoopsie Daisy)" which sounded like another secular artists, Petey Pablo. " Next came "Slam" another great song, with T-Bone adding some extra heat to the track. This is the typical TobyMac rock song, but nothing close to a filler. Even the interludes such as "Poetically Correct," "Tru Dog: The Return" and "Fresher Than A Night At The W" aid in transitioning from one track to the other instead of hindering it.

The most popular single reading the reviews happens to be "Gone" which is undeniably one of the best tracks on here. Some other tracks that stand out.

"Hey Now," "Atmosphere/Atmosphere (Remix)," "Diverse City," "Burn For You," "Getaway Car," "Stories (Down To The Bottom)" and "Phenomenom."

The whole CD is exceptional. I am already looking forward to the next TobyMac album as well as other projects from the Gotee family. But until "T-Mac" heads back to the studio for his third installment, I'll pick up the sequel to Dichotomy A next month.

Where can you get thump, bump & jump all wrapped in a package that glorifies God, respects women, fans the flames of diversity, & even shows himself to be a committed husband & father??? TobyMac is where. My 10 year old LOVES this album as well as my 37 year old husband. We crank this as loud as it goes & all of us thump together. There's not a song on this album that I don't like. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to a diverse cd. Wow. If you are a fan of all kinds of music, then you won't be disappointed. Imagine putting the musical styles of Nelly, Prince, Thousand Foot Krutch, Good Charlotte, Rick James, and Sting and incorporating them into different elements on one cd - heck, sometimes Tobymac does it in ONE SONG.

When compared to his first solo release (Momentum), this album delivers on almost every song. The only thing that I'm even somewhat disappointed about are his interludes between songs, and seriously, that's nit-picking.

Track-by-track, Tobymac skillfully proves his musical dexterity in almost any form; in addition, he wisely features many artists that add credibility to the style of music he's playing. The first song is a Nelly-esque rap featuring half of the duo from Grits (a group that he samples on the following track). For those of you that know of Earthsuit, their former members produce and play on "Phenomenom," an anthem that mixes electronica, rap, rock, and reggae styles. As a treat to fans of dcTalk, the members reunite for a re-mix of "Atmosphere" at the end of the disc - a mix that recalls the sound of their final cd (Supernatural). My favorite track is "Burn for You," but from what I'm reading online, a lot of people seem to like "Gone" the most.

This cd is for lovers of music in any form. Probably the first must-own release of the fall.

Toby freaken rocks. He does a little bit of everything on this album. The album title speaks well for this album. Toby seemed to have went back to his roots a bit more on this album. Hip Hop. This album is excellent.

I had not expected to like this CD as much as I did. I had purchased it for my 12 year old son. But I found out that there wasn't a song on this album that didn't move me either spiritually or physically! I don't normally care for rap at all except for the song Diverse City. But this album changed that for me. Toby Mac has a sure winner here.