Type: Lyrics are included with the album, Enhanced CD-ROM
Genre: Gospel
Review
Toby McKeehan (aka tobyMac) is a founding member of the celebrated Christian hip-hop/R&B group dc Talk, but has been slowly building a significant solo career for himself as well. His 2001 debut album was well received, and his sophomore effort is an impressive melting pot of hip-hop, dancehall reggae, and guitar rock. Like most such albums, it could stand to be trimmed by 15 or 20 minutes (the cutesy little kid cameo is overlong and unnecessary, for example), but at its core Welcome to Diverse City is well written, beautifully sung, and nicely produced, with a satisfying variety of styles and textures. "The Slam" is a sort of funky nu-metal (but that's meant in a good way); "Hey Now" is a swooningly hooky rock-R&B hybrid; "Fresher Than a Night at the W" is straight-up old school hip-hop. Best of all is the P-Funkified title track, which features a cameo by none other than Bootsy Collins himself. "Getaway Car" and "Phenomenon" should probably have been relegated to B-side status on a CD single, but they're not bad, just not up to the high standard set by almost every other song on this very fine album. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
Mark Townsend (Guitar), Michael Linn (Programming), Paul Wright III (Guitar), Joe Baldridge (Programming), tobyMac (Producer), Robert "Aurel M" Marvin (Engineer), Bootsy Collins (Vocals), Nirva Dorsaint (Vocals), Michael Linn (Producer), Jeff Savage (Producer), Andy Selby (Programming), Max Hsu (Producer), tobyMac (Programming), Joe Baldridge (Producer), DJ Form (Cut), Chris Gehringer (Mastering), Brent Milligan (Guitar (Acoustic)), Marcelo Pennell (Engineer), Melissa Brock (Vocals), Paul Meany (Fender Rhodes), Max Hsu (Engineer), Jamie Moore (Bass), Josiah "Chuks" Bell (Programming), Joe Baldridge (Mixing), Brent Milligan (Executive Producer), tobyMac (Vocals (Background)), Jeff Savage (Vocals (Background)), Tedd T. (Remixing), Josiah "Chuks" Bell (Producer), Andy Selby (Engineer), Dave Rumsey (Guitar), Tedd T. (Mixing), Darren King (Drums), M.O.C. (Performer), Tedd T. (Editing), Joe Baldridge (Engineer), Jan Cook (Creative Director), Dave Ghazarian (Guitar), Rusty Varenkamp (Editing), Christopher Stevens (Programming), Nirva Dorsaint (Vocals (Background)), Dave Ghazarian (Bass), Michael Ripoll (Guitar (Electric)), Cary Barlowe (Guitar), Mike Haynes (Horn), Jeff Savage (Engineer), Max Hsu (Keyboards), Christopher Stevens (Vocal Editing), Kerri McKeehan Stuart (Photography), Joe Weber (Guitar), Truett McKeehan (Rap), Jamie Moore (Engineer), Joe Baldridge (Beats), Tedd T. (Programming), Damon Riley (Programming), Christopher Stevens (Producer), Tim Roberts (Assistant), Brent Milligan (Bass), Lynn Nichols (Guitar), Brent Milligan (Guitar (Electric)), Barry Green (Horn), Christopher Stevens (Drums), Pete York (Executive Producer), Robert "Aurel M" Marvin (Producer), Chris Henning (Assistant), Brandon Estelle (Vocals), Kyle Whalum (Bass), DJ Maj (Cut), Tyler Burkum (Vocals (Background)), Tim Donahue (Drums), Chris Lord-Alge (Mixing), Kerri McKeehan Stuart (Groomer), Jeff Savage (Programming), Michael Ripoll (Guitar (Acoustic)), Math (Producer), Rusty Varenkamp (Engineer), Paul Meany (Bass), Robert "Aurel M" Marvin (Programming), Mark Douthit (Horn), Tricia Brock (Vocals), Tedd T. (Engineer), Joe Baldridge (Guitar (Electric)), Marcelo Pennell (Mixing), Christopher Stevens (Wurlitzer), Marcelo Pennell (Editing), Matt Dally (Guitar), Matt Dally (Vocals), Max Hsu (Programming), Joanna Valencia (Vocals (Background)), Christopher Stevens (Bass), Jacquire King (Mixing), Christopher Stevens (Vocals (Background)), Brendan Haley (Drums), Christopher Stevens (Mixing), Josiah "Chuks" Bell (Vocals), Dave Wyatt (Engineer), Greg Ham (Executive Producer), Christian Lantry (Photography), Dave Clo (Guitar), Christopher Stevens (Engineer), Serban Ghenea (Mixing), Kevin B. Hipp (Digital Editing), tobyMac (Vocals)
Welcome to Diverse City is the second full length studio album released by ChristiansingerTobyMac. The songs on this album deal with racial tolerance in society and a desire to know God better. Several other Christian artists appear on this CD, including Bootsy Collins ("Diverse City"), Coffee from GRITS ("Hey Now"), DJ Maj (Several songs), Papa San ("Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy)"), Paul Wright ("Street Interlude"), Superchick ("Stories (Down to the Bottom)"), and T-Bone ("The Slam"). TobyMac also reunites DC Talk on vocals in a remix of his song "Atmosphere", the last track of the album. The song "Gone" made it to the Top 5 songs on ChristianRock.net.
