Welcome to Diverse City
| Welcome to Diverse City | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by TobyMac | ||||
| Released | October 5, 2004 | |||
| Recorded | 2004 | |||
| Genre | Christian rock, Christian hip hop, funk, nu metal | |||
| Length | 54:55 | |||
| Label | ForeFront | |||
| Producer |
Toby McKeehan Tedd T Max Hsu Robert Marvin | |||
| TobyMac chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christianity Today | [2] |
| Cross Rhythms | [3] |
| Jesus Freak Hideout |  [4] |
Welcome to Diverse City is the second full length studio album released by Christian singer TobyMac. 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.
Track listing
| Album release | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Hey Now" (featuring Coffee from GRITS) | Toby McKeehan, Cary Barlowe, Jaime Moore, Stacy Jones | 3:44 | |||||||
| 2. | "Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy)" (featuring Papa San & MOC) | McKeehan, Solomon Olds, Joe Baldridge | 3:24 | |||||||
| 3. | "The Slam" (featuring T-Bone) | McKeehan, Christopher Stevens, Joe Weber, Rene Sotomayor | 3:19 | |||||||
| 4. | "Poetically Correct" (Interlude) | 0:56 | ||||||||
| 5. | "Atmosphere" | McKeehan, George Crawford, Jeff Savage | 4:07 | |||||||
| 6. | "Gone" | McKeehan, Stevens | 3:27 | |||||||
| 7. | "TruDog: The Return"" | McKeehan | 2:22 | |||||||
| 8. | "Diverse City" (featuring Bootsy Collins) | McKeehan, Stevens | 3:56 | |||||||
| 9. | "Stories (Down to the Bottom)" (featuring Superchick) | McKeehan, Matt Dally, Patricia Brock, David Ghazarian, Max Hsu | 4:40 | |||||||
| 10. | "Getaway Car" | McKeehan, Moore, Michael Linney, Barlowe | 4:27 | |||||||
| 11. | "Burn for You" | McKeehan, Robert Marvin, Josiah Bell | 3:49 | |||||||
| 12. | "Fresher Than a Night at the W" | 0:48 | ||||||||
| 13. | "Ill-M-I" (Soul-Junk cover) | McKeehan, Glenn Galaxy, Stevens | 3:29 | |||||||
| 14. | "Phenomenon" | McKeehan, Paul Meany | 5:19 | |||||||
| 15. | "Gotta Go" | McKeehan, Savage, Randy Crawford | 2:48 | |||||||
| 16. | "Atmosphere (Remix)" (featuring dc Talk) | McKeehan, G. Crawford, Savage | 4:37 | |||||||
Total length: |
54:55 | |||||||||
Music videos
| Year | Title | Watch |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Gone | Youtube |
Guest appearances
- Coffee from GRITS
- Truett McKeehan AKA Tru-Dog
- dc Talk
- M.O.C.
- Papa San
- Superchic(k)
- Bootsy Collins
Charts
The album debuted and peaked on the Billboard 200 at number 54, selling 21,000 copies that week.[5]
| Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | #54 |
Awards
On 2005, the album won a Dove Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards.[6]
Songs in popular media
Songs from Welcome to Diverse City, particularly "The Slam", featured many mainstream appearances.
- "The Slam" is the lead track for the opening episode of Prison Break Season One.
- "The Slam" was also used in the movies Into the Blue, Crank, and Never Back Down.
- "The Slam" was also used by wrestler Matt Cappotelli as an entrance theme while in OVW, a WWE developmental territory.
- "Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy)" appeared in the 2005 Usher film In the Mix.
- "Gone" appeared on the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of The Bible Game, released in 2005.
- "Diverse City" appears on the Xbox dance game Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 4, released in 2006.
- "Diverse City" also appears on the show Veronica Mars in the episode "The Wrath of Con". The song can be heard in the background at the college party that Veronica and Wallace go to.
Additionally, songs from Welcome to Diverse City were published on four consecutive WOW Hits albums.
- "Phenomenon" appeared on WOW Hits 2004.
- "Gone" appeared on WOW Hits 2005.
- "Atmosphere (Remix)", featuring dc Talk, appeared on WOW Hits 2006.
- A "Shortwave Radio Mix" of "Burn for You" appeared on WOW Hits 2007.
Personnel
- TobyMac - vocals, synthesizer
- Coffee - Vocals on "Hey Now"
- Papa San, M.O.C. - Vocals on "Catachafire (Whoopsi-Daisy)
- T-Bone - Vocals on "The Slam"
- Max Hsu - Keys and synthesizer on "Stories (Down to the Bottom)"
- Dave Ghazarian - Guitar and bass on "Stories (Down to the Bottom)"
- Matt Dally - vocals and guitar on "Stories (Down to the Bottom)"
- Brian Gocher - Synthesizer on "Stories (Down to the Bottom)"
- Tricia Brock, Melissa Brock, Brandon Estelle - Vocals on "Stories (Down to the Bottom)"
- Randy Crawford, TruDog - Vocals on "Gotta Go"
- DC Talk - Vocals on "Atmosphere (Remix)"
- Jaime Moore - Synthesizer, bass
- Mike Haynes, Mark Douthit, Barry Green - Horns
- Cary Barlowe - Guitar
- DJ Form - DJ
- Gabe Patillo - Beat box
- Christopher Stevens - Synthesizer, drums, engineering, bass, additional vocals
- Solomon Olds - Beats, synthesizer, electric guitar, bass, keys, Sitar, additional vocals
- Joe Baldridge - Beats, synthesizer, guitar
- DJ Maj - DJ
- Joe Weber - Guitar
- Mark Townsend - Guitar
- Tim Donahue - drums
- Brent Milligan - Bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Jeff Savage - Synthesizer, additional vocals
- Andy Selby - Synthesizer
- Dave Clo - Guitar
- Michael Linney - Synthesizer
- Robert Marvin - Synthesizer
- Josiah Bell - Synthesizer
- Lynn Nichols - Guitar
- Brian Haley - drums
- Dave Rumsey - Guitar
- Paul Meany - Bass, rhodes
- Darren King - drums
- Tedd T - Synthesizer
- Damon Riley - Synthesizer
- Michael Ripoli - Acoustic Guitar, electric guitar
- Kyle Whalum - Bass
- Nirva Dorsaint - Additional Vocals
- Jason Eskridge - Additional Vocals
- Joanna Valencia - Additional Vocals
- Tyler Burkum - Additional Vocals
- Paul Wright - Vocals on West Coast Kid
- Byron "Mr.Talkbox" Chambers - Talkbox on Diverse City
References
- ↑ AllMusic review
- ↑ Christianity Today review
- ↑ Cross Rhythms review
- ↑ Jesus Freak Hideout review
- ↑ Katie Hasty, "Norah Stays Tight At No. 1 Amidst Slow Sales Week", Billboard.com, February 28, 2007.
- ↑ 2005 Dove Awards - 36th Annual Dove Awards on About.com; Jones, Kim
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||