dc Talk Solo, Part 3: Livin' on the edge of obnoxious
Written: Feb 04 '02 (Updated Feb 23 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Energetic rock tracks, clever rhymes, hilarious interludes.
Cons: Musical styles don't merge well; a few bad rhymes and dull tracks.
The Bottom Line: The weakest of the three dc Talk solo albums, but that could be my bias against the straight-up hip-hop tracks. Definitely worth checking out.
Here we are, at the end of a strange trilogy of solo albums by the members of the Christian Hit Radio juggernaut known as dc Talk. Allow me to recap for those of you just tuning in: Michael Tait formed a band and put out a hot CD of straight-up rock and roll last July. Kevin Max, resident poet of the group, followed with an interesting blend of pop, rock, and world music that got the attention of several critics in August and proved to be one of the biggest surprises of the year. Finally, in November, rapper Toby Mac, the visionary who first got the group started back in the 80's, returned from his rhyming hiatus to drop an interesting blend of hip-hop and rapcore in November. That's the album I'm finally getting around to reviewing today.
I'll be honest - Toby's was probably the album I looked forward to the least out of the three. I have nothing against rap - but rap by itself without influence from other genres generally doesn't interest me. I was expecting Toby to return to his roots and give us some straight-up hip-hop unfiltered through the pop influence that gave dc Talk's early albums so much simultaneous appeal and criticsm. I suppose I should have known better than that, because the album's first single "Extreme Days" (released for the soundtrack of the movie with the same name long before Momentum was even titled) seriously rocked. Toby wore the influences of dc Talk's recent work loud and proud, but for the first time, we were hearing him uninhibited by the need to "tone it down" for Christian radio. The fact that he was yelling instead of just speaking on most of the rap verses took some getting used to, and though that remains true on a lot of the heavier tracks on Momentum, I still haven't gotten used to it. I knew that not everything on Momentum was going to sound like "Extreme Days", and Toby was wise enough to give us a taste of his mellower hip-hop side with "Somebody's Watchin'" on the dc Talk Solo EP, which served to give fans a preview of all three solo albums. It was nice to hear Toby doing two very different styles, but as I suspected, the more easy-going rap stuff didn't appeal to me as much.
As expected after hearing Solo, Momentum turned out to be pretty much a 50/50 split between the rock/rap stuff and the more straight-up rap. Now, Toby's the first to admit that he'd get schooled by most of the veteran MC's out there, so even the straight-up rap stuff focuses more on an interesting blend of influences than just a simple series of beats and rhymes. That's not to say that his lyrics or his flow aren't that good (though he drops a couple awkward or even embarrassing lines every now and then), but Toby knows his strengths, and he works best with a lot of back-up. To Momentum"s credit, nearly every track displays some form of musical excellence or at least ingenuity. At the same time, the transitioning back and forth between styles and a few discordant elements in some songs can easily bring Momentum to a screeching halt. This album really had to grow on me.
Get This Party Started
True to its title, the opening track on the album cranks things up in a big way, with grinding guitars, a strong "shout-along" chorus, and a few sonic tricks to keep the listener guessing. The song starts off with an amusingly familiar electronic voice saying, "Toby Mac. Momentum. Begin sequence." (More on that voice later.) It does a pretty good job of ping-ponging back and forth between rocking hard and allowing Toby's rap verse to breathe comfortably, but at the same time, it seems a little lacking in the melody department, so much so that it sounds rather awkward when the song shifts gears and Toby attempts a key change near the sudden end.
Them people thought I was gone, it's been a long time comin'
But straight out the box, I got the dark side runnin'
So Father Most High, won't You show Yourself
And shine on this record like nobody else
What's Goin' Down
If the title of the song makes you groan, then your fears have come true - Toby has in fact ripped off the classic protest rock song by Buffalo Springfield. This is apparent from the familiar guitar intro, though grinding, ditorted guitars suddenly give the song a very different mood than the original, and Toby mainly uses the chorus as a jumping off point for a tirade on the moral decay of America. Though the song is a lot of fun musically, this is one of a few points where I have trouble taking Toby seriously as an artist. Toby plainly depicts a racist society in one verse and the life of a teenage mother in the next (that depiction comes across as particularly insensitive, in my opinion). I have fun driving along and chanting "What be going diggy down?" to this tune, but I have to admit, Toby was much better at social commentary when he had his dc Talk buddies to keep him in check in songs such as "What Have We Become?" or "Socially Acceptable".
Take a look around
Everything is comin' down
Do you hear the subtle sounds
Of morality sleepin'?
Irene
Ready for the first sudden mood change? An accomplished Spanish guitar intro picks up after the sudden ending of the last track, leading into this bouncy, reggae-influenced, more sensitive song about a teenage mother. Toby Mac is rapping from the point of view of God, encouraging this "Irene" character to hang in there and have faith that her circumstances will change. It's a pretty normal theme for Christian rap, and the song runs a little long, plus the backing vocals get on my nerves at times, but it's still a decent track. There are enough vocal interludes and so forth to make the song memorable and singable.
Daughter of Zion, I heard your prayer
Just cast your cares and please beware of snakes
They come in all shapes and sizes
Tempt you, put scales on your eyelids
Toby's Mac
On most hip-hop-influenced albums, I don't care much for interludes. They generally serve to fill space and make the album seem longer than it is, or to toss off a joke that isn't funny at all upon repeated listens, or generally make it impossible to enjoy the CD when played on "random" In Toby's case, there are a few interludes on this album that are even more amusing than the ones on dc Talk's Jesus Freak. In this particular track, Toby's Macintosh computer (get it?) keeps the party going with a little bit of synthesized freestyle. It's one of those tracks that you just have to hear.
J Train
Any Kirk Franklin fans out there? You should probably skip this paragraph. The contemporary Gospel legend shows up to help Toby out with this bumpin' track, and quite frankly, I've never liked Kirk Franklin. He does the same thing here that he does on pretty much all of his own records - he talks like a hip preacher and interjects a lot of unhelpful comments in an attempt to add energy to the song. (I'm starting to think that Kirk Franklin is a cross between Carman and Puff Daddy!) Aside from that, the track is actually quite catchy, with a singable chorus that will have you repeating the line "I got a ticket, say what what what?" over and over for hours. (I actually had it stuck in my head one morning as I was walking to my car, and then I found a parking ticket on my windshield. Unintentionally appropriate.) It's pretty standard urban gospel fare, slightly marred by the fact the Toby seems to think he's James Brown. His voice could stand to be a bit less abrasive on this cut.
Now I missed the train more than once in my life
'Til the good conductor heard my Momma's cry
Hades to Glory in the blink of an eye
Hear me now, hear me now while I testify
Do You Know
This track slows things down a bit for what appears to be an ode to Toby's son, an apology for being an imperfect father, and then it turns around in the second verse and becomes a message from God to Toby about the Father's perfect love. Kind of cute, but the change of pronouns isn't necessarily apparent. This is one of the points where the album drags for me. Toby raps in that looser, Eminem sort of style that I don't really care for. Toby enlists the help of Joanna Valencia, a teenage vocalist that he recently signed to his label, Gotee Records, and I'm not a huge fan of her voice. It's a little too brassy for me. I suppose it fits well with the musical genre and everything; I just expected Toby to be more inventive instead of recruiting the typical "hip-hop girl". I would have liked to see some guests spots from some of the other acts on Toby's label instead, specifically Jennifer Knapp or Out of Eden.
Someday my love isn't gonna be fulfilling
Try as I may, human love, it hit's a ceiling
But I can sow the seeds, say a prayer, this I know
If faith can move a mountain
Surely God can make His spirit grow in You
Tru-Dogg
This interlude manages to be adorable and amusing all at once. Apparently Toby's son Truett MacKeehan (who is still in the toddler stage) is a chip off the old block, and likes to beat-box whenever he gets near a mic. Toby was ingenious enough to sample the kiddo and create a little freestyle track out of it. Listen carefully at the end.
Momentum
Thankfully, the album's title track is a sure-fire winner, even if it isn't apparent at first from the funked-out verses. As with most of the more rocking tracks on the album, Toby co-wrote this one with guitar axeman Pete Stewart (who was actually Tait's guitarist until recently), and it's a slammin' success. Toby's lyrics are witty and clever, but unabashedly bold at the same time. It's pretty much his mission staement - he's comin' atcha with some hardcore truth - and you can't help but smile (at least, if the idea of Kid Rock doing Christian music doesn't bother you). If you're anything like me, you'll be screaming "Been on a roll for two thousand years or so!" at the top of your lungs if you're playing this one alone in your car.
I ain't here to seek no glory
End of story, I know the judge and the jury
People always gotta ask who, what, when, and why
But never wanna step to the light
Yours
Toby pulls off a sweet transition between the whisper that ends the last song and the guitar riff that turns the noise level up one more notch (if that's at all possible). This one's got a little more of a melody to it, and as a result it's got a little more single potential (I think it's already out on Christian rock radio). Basically, the song sums up Toby's desperate need for God to help him keep his ego in check, and to keep his past sins from haunting him. The rhymes are pretty clever, and the chorus (which is actually sung in a gritty voice that will remind some of Skillet) is pretty easy to learn, with more "shout-along" lines here and there to guarantee that this song will be a riot in concert! I have a few criticisms, though. First of all, the lines, "Don't get me started, don't even get me started" that lead from the verses to the chorus make no sense in the context of the rest of the song, and only serve to remind me of a really bad Molly Shannon routine from Saturday Night Live. Second of all, Toby jerks the listener around a little too much with the whole start-stop effect. It worked in "Jesus Freak" and "Supernatural" when building from the bridge back into the chorus; it's a little awkward in this instance. Finally, I just can't get over his usage of the word "doo-doo" in the second verse. Yes, it's meant to refer to human waste, and no, that's not an image I needed to help me understand the song. Toby, please leave words like that to your toddler!
My past is taking me to task
And I can't guarantee how long I'll last
Without You, I'm a hopeless wreck
So I cry out Your name as I drop to the deck
Quiet Storm
An interlude similar to "WDCT" (from Free at Last) gives us another drastic mood change as Toby prepares us for a few more hip-hop tracks. Here, a radio announcer set us up for Toby's explanation of why he's doing the solo thing. It leads rather awkwardly into...
Wonderin' Why
The first of two laid-back hip-hop tracks takes on some of the gossip surrounding Toby and the other members of dc Talk. Basically, Toby sums up in rhyme his reason for loving the music that he loves, and the message dc Talk has been trying to communicate to fans for the entirety of the last year, that they're taking a break but not breaking up. (Some people just don't get it.) It's not a bad song. A little flat in places, perhaps, and I'm not entirely comfortable with the line "I been rockin' the black folks and telling' those white jokes". But I like the overall message, and I like Toby's breakdown refrain of "Where my freaks at? Where my Jesus freaks?"
Somebody told me that you're takin' a break
A sbaatical from rhyming' on the records that you make
A little birdie said that wasn't the case
They blamed your exodus on dc partners Kevin and Tait
Somebody's Watchin'
Another radio hit for Toby way before the release of the album, this tune also piggybacks on an older song by Rockwell. This one's a breezy, faster hip-hop tune, even if it does get a little repetitive. Toby gets off some more good rhymes, though his indictment of the rumor-spreading public gets a little old after two tracks in a row. (We'll call that "the Creed complex".) Once again, Joanna Valencia serves mostly to annoy me, as she signs "Toby Mac" several times in the background. Having a girl sing your name is such a hip-hop cliché that it's not even funny. It comes across as egotistical, and I honestly thought Toby was above that.
Well he make it? Man, I bet he won't
While they're runnin' through the minutes on their cell phones
So the picture's painted, you get the point
And that junk's creepin' into my solo joint
Triple Skinny
Another amusing interlude - no beatbox this time, but Toby's computer attempts to order a drink at a local coffeeshop. I'm sure it's an order that Toby himself placed several times while working on this album late into the night.
Love Is in the House
This soulful, mid-tempo tune had to grow on me, but it actually strikes a happy medium between the rock and the hip-hop, allowing Mr. Stewart's guitars to rip at certain times while letting the beat and the vocals take center stage at others. Toby conjures up a playful vision of a party packed wall to wall with people, which is a metaphor for the body of Christ. Toby's pretty good with his metaphors, if you don't mind some of them being a little silly. The song has a lot of great breakdowns, and I love how it fades into simple vocals and hand claps at the end, which disintegrates into a few random shout-outs before breaking into the next track.
I clear my throat before I grab the mic, I need uno momento
Them cynics gonna ride me like a pinto
No resentment, do you comprehend my innuendo?
You still can't leave the party 'til you drop your crucial info
Extreme Days
I'm not sure whether it was smart for Toby to place his über-hit at this point in the album. I mean, I love this song to death, and it had to go somewhere, so it was probably better to place it near the end so it wouldn't steal attention from as many of the newer songs. No matter where it went, it was bound to sound a little out of place simply because everyone's played it out by now. I don't like that they took off the Truett intro, but I'm not going to be nitpicky. It's still an awesome song with memorably "extreme" lyrics and a solid chorus (I think I can actually hear Michael Tait helping Toby out with chorus on this one). A few samples creep in here and there, one of which I swear sounds like Stone Cold Steve Austin. I love the breakdown in the middle of the song, which switches the mood from Kid Rock to MC Hammer. It's an interesting span of Toby's influences, as most of these songs are.
Got hip to Kiss and I tripped on Zeppelin
So Mr. Therapist, why did I go this direction?
God had a plan to end all my schemes
I had a dream He said to be extreme
Don't Bring Me Down
This is one interlude worth skipping. Toby is singing in a rather annoying tone of voice against a lackadaisical backbeat - it almost sounds like he recorded his vocals through a cell phone or something. I can't make much sense of what he's singing here, as the lyrics aren't printed. I caught something about "Cream of Wheat" in there somewhere. It's probably not important. Moving on...
In the Air
Thankfully, Toby saved one of his most brilliant tracks for last. This one definitely falls into the "hip-pop" category that likely defines what dc Talk would sound like now if Toby had continued to run the show and they had remained a "rap" group. (Especially interesting that Toby co-wrote this one with Glenn Galaxy from the avant-garde hip-hop/indie rock group Soul-Junk.) It's got a very catchy "do-do-do" intro, complete with acoustic guitar, and as the song unfolds, a host of backing vocals, samples and weird instruments show up. The song is a strange combination of a serious mood and a whimsical one - it describes a dream Toby had about the rapture, and his sadness over not seeing a certain friend there. He realizes that he never took the opportunity to share the Gospel with this friend, and near the end of the song, he ends up having a phone conversation with himself (playing the friend), inviting him to coffee so they can talk. This is all done in a rap verse, of course, with a few witty lines thrown in. I love the whimsical marching band instruments that close out the song, and listening carefully, I would swear I can hear both Michael Tait and Kevin Max during the "Hallejuah" bridge. But maybe I'm just imagining things because I'm so used to hearing those three voices together. I don't usually tend to like the "evangelistic" songs on Christian records, but this one's done so well, and it genuinely makes me wish I had been more honest with certain friends at times when they likely would have been receptive to what I wanted to share with them about my faith.
"So where we going?"
"Much deeper than our usual chat."
"Like whose beats is weak and whose beats is phat?"
"Naw, my man, this some next level junk."
"Like when we discussed if Tiger Woods can dunk?"
Afterword
This short outro uses a different tune, but it's pretty much a reprise of "Do You Know". I think Toby could have ended stronger, though I like that the last words on the album are the line "Just emphasize His lead."
I would definitely advise you to listen to a lot of the tracks from this album before buying it. Its schizophrenic nature is likely to turn off fans of either camp, so you have to be able to embrace the rap/rock stuff and at least tolerate the hip-hop (or vice versa) to really get into this record. Even then, you'll sometimes find yourself getting impatient with one style because you want more of the other. Still, it's a good display of Toby's talent. All three dc Talk solo records have proven that the guys can do some great stuff on their own, even if I still think they're much stronger together. If you love dc Talk but don't generally like rap, then you might even want to listen to this record just so you can be thankful that Mike and Kevin now have more creative input than they did in the group's early days! In any case, at least give Toby a chance. He may me extreme and obnoxious at times, but he's got a lot of heart and a lot of ingenuity, and it shines on this record like nothing else.
TRACK REVIEW SUMMARY Excellent: Momentum, Yours, Extreme Days, In the Air, Get This Party Started, Toby's Mac, Tru-Dogg
Good: What's Goin' Down, Irene, Love Is in the House
Decent: J Train, Wonderin' Why, Somebody's Watchin'
Weak: Do You Know, Afterword
Skippable: Don't Bring Me Down, Quiet Storm
Website: http://www.tobymac.com
Great music to play while: Double-clickin' on yo' mizzouse and wonderin' where my freaks at?
The third album from the dc talk solo projects has Tobymac going back to his hip-hop roots, with samples of familiar hooks combined with catchy rhymes...More at Christianbook.com
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