The ascension of TobyMac’s solo career has been nothing short of spectacular. In an era of declining music sales he has consistently defied the odds and has seen his sales increase with each new album release. This is no small feat. With his fourth studio album TONIGHT released on Feb. 9, he is poised to take things higher yet again.
Having climbed the mountain once with the group dcTalk (4 Grammys, more than 8 million albums sold), TobyMac knows how difficult the journey can be and how much work the process actually takes. Rarely does an artist get to soar to great heights for a second time, but soar he has. He took home his first Grammy as a solo artist last year after receiving Grammy nominations for each of his first four solo projects (Momentum, Welcome To Diverse City, Portable Sounds, Tonight). And last year TobyMac topped 2 million in total albums sold during his solo career. TobyMac has also remixed the Welcome to Diverse City album and Momentum, calling the new albums Renovating Diverse City and Re:Mix Momentum, respectively. He has done it with a combination of talent, hard work and humility which has produced songs that resonate with people from all walks of life .
Upon embarking on his solo career, Toby sought to surround himself with a talented and diverse cast of characters, aptly named the Diverse City Band. The result has been a musical fusion that radiates with an unquenchable energy and a penetrating message.
A self-professed perfectionist when making records—he’s been known to relentlessly tweak and massage every little thing in an inexorable effort to make it sound better—Toby is the first to admit that he has to work really hard to make great music. “That’s what drives me,” he says. “I feel like I have to work harder than other people to get there. Sometimes I feel like I’m slightly under-gifted; I usually don't sit down and write a great song in just a few minutes like others can. But I think my work ethic makes up for that.”
Starting with dcTalk, and then going solo when the group disbanded in 2000, Toby still clings to such rootsy notions as hard work, persistence, patience and—perhaps most relevant of all—the power of music, which he insists is still what keeps him going.
“It’s the truth,” he says. “I still believe that a song can penetrate a heart. I believe God can use a song to open someone’s mind and heart. Other songs can just drop what I call, 'the joy bomb' on somebody. I fight really hard to remain unjaundiced—to keep believing that you can actually walk into a studio and write a song that breathes life. That’s the hardest fight for a guy who’s been doing this for a while; it’s easy to fall into the trap of just making it your job. But I still believe that songs matter.”
The songs on TONIGHT certainly matter—everything from the prayerful first single “City On Our Knees” to the testimonial “Changed Forever,” from the worshipful “Captured” to the confessional “Start Somewhere,” and even down to the put-on-your-party-hat grooves of “Funky Jesus Music” and “ShowStopper.” One theme that runs loud and clear throughout is the idea that we all need God, and we need him now—this morning, this afternoon, tonight.
“Right here, right now / Under the stars / I promise You my heart / ’Cause it starts tonight,” Toby sings on the chorus of the title track. “If you gotta start somewhere why not here? If you gotta start sometime why not now?” he asks on “City on Our Knees.” And “I wanna straighten this before the sun goes down tonight,” he proclaims on “Start Somewhere.”
“There’s definitely a sense of urgency on this record,” says co-producer Chris Stephens, who has worked on TobyMac’s last three CDs. “And it’s an album that speaks of unity, of coming together and finding common ground to worship God.”
Toby has long had a passion for racial reconciliation and unity, a recurrent theme in his music. TONIGHT includes songs of reconciliation of another kind—between husband and wife. Toby and Amanda have been happily married for 15 years, but like all couples, it can be hard work sometimes. For Toby, who best expresses his emotions through music, it was a natural step to write about it. In “Hold On,” he sings, “If you move just a little bit closer / You can put your head on my shoulder . . . / Wipe away those tears / This one’s for you.” And on “Start Somewhere,” he’s downright confessional: “I said some things that I regret / And if I could, I’d take ’em back / But here I am, and there you are / The space between us is not so far / I’m reaching out my hand in love.”
“‘Hold On’ is very personal,” Toby says. “Many lines are there to encourage my wife, but I know those lines could encourage anybody in a relationship. As for ‘Start Somewhere,’ any time you’re in love with somebody, you’re going to bang heads from time to time. I don’t know how many times I’ve been lying in bed, sweating it out and thinking, How am I going to make this right? But then you reach that moment of apology and forgiveness. That’s one of my favorite songs on the record; it’s a personal perspective on confrontation and reconciliation.”
And then there’s “Wonderin’,” in which Toby reminisces about the past with Kevin Max and Michael Tait in dcTalk, one of Christian music’s biggest acts in the 1990s. “We was ridin’ in style, clockin’ them miles / With the songs that He put down deep in our hearts . . . / I’m wonderin’ ’bout the way I spend my days / Wonderin’ if it’s even worth the chase / Wonderin’ if they’re stealin’ me from you.”
“It’s just a warm look back at dc Talk,” says Toby, almost wistfully. “It’s reminiscing about Michael and Kevin and what we did together, and recognizing their influence on me. I love what I do today, but there are times when I wonder,What if we stayed together? I’ve got these dreams I’m pursuing now, but are they stealing me from you? I think about Kevin and Michael on every song I write. That's the truth man, we climbed a mountain together.”
Sonically, TONIGHT is typical TobyMac in many ways—an eclectic mix of rap, rock, pop and funk, all laden with catchy hooks and melodies just itching for airplay and audience singalongs. There’s even a healthy dose of reggae on the album closer “Break Open the Sky,” where Toby flexes his Jamaican family ties while Israel Houghton provides guest vocals. Other visiting vocalists include Skillet’s John Cooper on “Tonight” and Relient K’s Matthew Thiessen on “Wonderin’.”
Of course most of the vocals belong to the artist himself. Stephens says Toby “has stretched himself as a vocalist, he writes about things he is passionate about and his vocals reflect that urgency''. Toby agrees: “I do more singing on this record than ever before. I’m learning to use my vocal instrument in different ways, and I’m getting more comfortable with it everyday''.
It all adds up to a project that reflects one man’s desire to push himself beyond “very good,” to dig deep in the quest for that other country where greatness resides. He certainly reached for it. Hard.
“I’ve worked very hard not to fall into the trap of making this just a gig,” he says. “If it is a labor, it’s a labor of love. I know music can’t change the world, but who says God can't speak through a song."
Right here, right now. TONIGHT.
TobyMac is usually styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC
No Ordinary Love
TobyMac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never knew such bliss existed
Or maybe it's just so indescribable
Love was liable to get her twisted
She never told me but if she tried I was a little to young it floated right by me
I never dreamed love so fulfilling it's simply killing and over spilling on me
It goes on and on and on and on and on
It goes on and on and on and on and on
It goes on and on, Yo
This ain't no ordinary
This ain't no ordinary love
This ain't no ordinary
Gonna tell everyone up under the sun [2 times]
I refuse to believe we're a dying breed
Children of peace, hope and harmony
Ordinary folks extraordinary love
Something from above
Something we fall short of
You can't see with an untrained eye
But if you take a little time you are sure to find it
We complicate something so basic
But once you taste it, you gonna chase it like me
It goes on and on, Yo
It goes on and on
This ain't no ordinary
This ain't no ordinary love
This ain't no ordinary
Gonna tell everyone up under the sun [3 times]
A-yo here we go, open up the gates and let it flow...
A-yo here we go, Love's gonna take us higher [2 times]
This ain't no ordinary...
This ain't no ordinary love
This ain't no ordinary
Gonna tell everyone up under the sun
This ain't no ordinary
This ain't no ordinary love
This ain't no ordinary
Gonna tell everyone, tell everyone [2 times]
This ain't no ordinary love
It's extraordinary love [2 times]
The lyrics to TobyMac's song "No Ordinary Love" express the overwhelming feeling of being in love with someone that you can't quite put into words. The first verse reflects on the singer's mother telling him about love and how it has twisted her, but the singer didn't understand it at the time. The second verse contrastingly claims that love is something so basic that we as humans complicate, but it's something that once we taste, we can't help but crave. The chorus repeats that this love isn't ordinary, and the bridge figuratively opens up the gates to let love flow and take us higher.
The song overall portrays a love that is overwhelming and all-encompassing, one that defies a logical understanding of what love is. The repetition of "it goes on and on" and "this ain't no ordinary love" emphasizes the infinite nature of love and its power.
In terms of style, the song is a combination of pop, hip-hop, and rock, showcasing TobyMac's unique musical style that has gained him a loyal fan base.
Line by Line Meaning
Momma never said it would be like this
My mother never explained what real love was like
I never knew such bliss existed
I had no idea that happiness of this level existed
Or maybe it's just so indescribable
It's possible that the feeling is so incredible that words cannot do it justice
Love was liable to get her twisted
Love tends to consume a person's mind and emotions
She never told me but if she tried I was a little too young it floated right by me
Even if my mother had tried to explain it to me, I was too young to fully comprehend it
I never dreamed love so fulfilling it's simply killing and over spilling on me
I never imagined that love could be so fulfilling that it would overflow in my life
It goes on and on and on and on and on
Love is a continuous joy
Its over spillin' on me
The overflowing love is impacting me in a positive way
This ain't no ordinary
This is not a typical kind of love
Gonna tell everyone up under the sun
I am going to share this incredible love with everyone I can
I refuse to believe we're a dying breed
I refuse to believe that people don't experience true love anymore
Children of peace, hope and harmony
We are all meant to be loving, peaceful, and harmonious
Ordinary folks, extraordinary love
Everyday people who are experiencing an extraordinary type of love
Something from above
This love is divine, sent from a higher power
Something we fall short of
We often fail to understand or experience this type of love
You can't see with an untrained eye
This love is not easily recognized by those who are not familiar with it
But if you take a little time you are sure to find it
If you take the time to cultivate love in your life, you will experience it
We complicate something so basic
We tend to make love more complicated than it needs to be
But once you taste it, you gonna chase it like me
Once you experience love, you will pursue it wholeheartedly
A-yo here we go, open up the gates and let it flow...
Let the love flow freely and openly
A-yo here we go, Love's gonna take us higher
Love will elevate us and take us to new heights
This ain't no ordinary love
This is a love that is beyond the ordinary
Gonna tell everyone, tell everyone
I am going to continue to share this love with everyone
It's extraordinary love
This is an extraordinary type of love
Lyrics © FUN ATTIC MUSIC
Written by: WYATT CRAWFORD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind