dc talk member tobyMac has gone back to his hip-hop roots on his debut solo release. With samples of familiar hooks, combined with catchy rhymes and layered with gritty hard rock guitars, he creates an album that defines its title, Momentum. tobyMac easily moves you with the smooth grooves of "In the Air" and rocks you with the blood pumping "Extreme Days."
In describing his album, tobyMac states "I choose to take elements of hip-hop and try to lift people and try to cause them to think about where they stand in race relations, to cause them to think about who God is, to think about freeing themselves a little and having a good time."
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He's Got Momentum, Baby!| Posted February 22, 2010
Back in the days when DC Talk announced their "intermission" I'll bet many fans wondered what would become of the band members' solo careers. Few likely expected the momentum that would begin with TobyMac's first solo album. Ya gotta laugh when you listen to "Wonderin' Why," at the beginning of which (in the track ?Quiet Storm?) a fake reporter comments that it appeared as though Toby would take a permanent hiatus from his "rap game." Not a chance! Toby delivers rapping and rock in this record with "Get This Party Started," "What's Goin' Down," "Momentum," ?Yours,? and "Extreme Days." The latino-style ballad ?Irene? will always be a favorite from this CD. And let?s not forget my personal favorite from Momentum ? the lighted-hearted, ever so catchy ?Love Is In The House.? And of course, nobody can forget the many bonus tracks, including the humorous ?Triple Skinny.? I still plan to order that drink from Starbucks someday. . .
So if you like the harder stuff from Toby, this is the album to get! Cause he?s got momentum baby, and he hasn?t slowed down yet!
An Incredible Debut By tobyMac| Posted June 17, 2007
Completing the round of debut solo records from the members of dc talk, tobyMac delivers an album that completes the three pieces (rock, art and hip-hop) that make up the most successful Christian rock group in history. Momentum is everything we ever hoped for in a solo record from Toby, and then some. It's innovative, introspective, witty, humorous but most importantly, vertical. Songs like "In The Air" and "Yours" speak of sharing your faith and simply giving your life and everything you are to God. Momentum is all over the map musically, but the flow is just as smooth as Toby's rhymes. Tracks like "Get This Party Started," "Yours" and "Momentum" border along the same lines crossed by P.O.D., which "Love Is In the House" and "Irene" rely more on a melodic grooves. You know how some albums grow with you in time? With samples of familiar hooks combined with catchy rhymes and layered with gritty hard rock guitars, Momentum feels like an album you've been listening to all your life.
A unrefined Toby| Posted September 05, 2007
Momentum, the first album from Toby Mac when he went solo, is a rock' in rap/hip hop album with some good lyrics to back it up.
Toby Mac has a wide verity of the before mentioned music on his large CD, most of which is very creative but also a little raw. Toby Mac rock/raps on the tracks "what's going down", "get this party started", and the title track "momentum" all which sound very good. The even heavier songs "extreme days" and "yours" are over done, thus not that impressive.
Toby Mac's hip hop/rap tunes include "J train", "Irene", and "some ones watching me" which are simple and not very fun. On the other hand "in the air" and "love is in the house" are more up beat and better sounding that helps bring a balance to Momentum. After that, there is a lot of wasted space on Toby Mac's eighteen track CD, which is the biggest down fall of the disc.
Momentum passes on some great messages, as Toby Mac ha a good grasp on present culture, which is showed on the song "what's going down". He also packs good layrics up and down his CD, like "in the air" and "momentum" among others. Even though there are some meaningless songs on the album, Toby Mac's primary focus is the Allmighty.
Some great stuff on Momentum, but most of it is only good or not impressive, as there is a lot of wasted tracks. But Toby Ma debut still packs a punch with his rap/rock tunes and his great lyrics.
A Mixed Mac| Posted August 22, 2007
There's a reason why I call tobyMac the master of music, with his work with DC Talk and his incredible solo career. However, the Mac has some trouble here finding his solo identity. First off, 18 tracks is highly impressive, he must have been working on the CD for a few years. But there's one thing I noticed throughout the whole album, an identity crisis, he wanted to not be DC Talk with just one singer, he wanted to be different, this CD is trial, and some of it comes to be error.
There's about 4 highlights, "Somebody's Watching" is a great funky hip-hop track with a gospel singer on background vocals, and the whole track works well. "Love is in the House" is my favorite track being a fusion of rap and pop. "In the Air" is an unique song, being really part conversation set to a beat, and it works well. And finally, the first track, which is a great party song, and seems to be the only harder rock song I liked.
On the other hand, the rest of the songs either don't work i.e. "Irene", or are very hard rock or hip-hop i.e. "J-Train," "What's Goin' Down". If you like the hard rock group RED, you'll like the Mac here. Me? I think it's too over the top, in fact it's WAY over the top. The lyrics point to crimes that are downright disturbing. The problem here is that the album is going to appeal to a younger audience, what are they going to think of the second verse of "What's Goin' Down" where the story of "Susie" is recounted?
After the phenomenon that was DC Talk, Toby felt he had to get away from it as quickly as possible, so do a hard rock/hip-hop/rap record with very little pop. Obviously the experiment didn't work too well as Toby totally shifted away from the hard stuff, and went lighter. He finally found his identity with "Portable Sounds", this album on the other hand is better for I-Tunes.
MOMENTUM IS BEYOND AMAZING!!!| Posted September 01, 2016
When I first started listening to DC Talk in 2007, I went down a road of nostalgia and enjoyment. One particular member obviously stood out to me and that is the man himself, TobyMac. I looked at his discography and one album gave me a flashback of a song I heard when I was little called "Irene". The cover photo was the same photo in the WOW Hits 2003 album. So, I decided to give the whole album a listen. After listening, I was literally hooked and cannot get away from the album. If rapcore is something you're interested in, I recommend "What's Going Down", "Yours", and "Get This Party Started". "Somebody's Watching", "Wonderin' Why", "Love Is In The House" and "Do You Know", which is my overall favorite selection on the record, are there for those who love laid back and feel good, mellow rhythms. Crazy, energetic songs are something I always particpate for! "J Train", "Extreme Days", and "Momemtum" are those kind of songs that will have your blood pumping and soul rejoicing. Overall, this record is so diverse in sound and literally will uplift you to higher dimensions.
A rough beginning to a great career| Posted February 10, 2011
TobyMac, the more hip-hop member of dc Talk, released this album when the band took an "Intermission" in 2001. This review is being written almost 10 years after its release, so it's easy to look back now and have a new perspective on this album. While it looks very rough these days as it did now, it shows the building blocks of what would become one of Christian music's premier entertainers.
The first thing I notice looking back on this album is the large amount of covers. While I know this is a big thing to do in the hip-hop world, it's not something you see that often in Christian music. While it was nice to have a new spin on these songs, they aren't really well done. As other reviewers have said, they are simple. I feel like I could've made the beats in the background in about 30 minutes on Garage Band. The lyrics are okay, but seem to fall short of the high expectations we had with each dc Talk release.
While there are highlights like "Yours" and "Love Is In the House", there are more songs on this album that you will skip rather than listen to. "J Train" and "Extreme Days" seem to try survive simply by being intense and it doesn't really work all that well.
Am I saying this is a bad CD? No. TobyMac has become one of the best Christian artists out there, and I believe this was him trying to hone his new place in the industry. Now that he has found his niche, he has thrived. If you like TobyMac a lot, pick this album up. If you're only a casual fan, you'll probably do better to check out other albums.
Momentum| Posted June 04, 2010
Tobymac's debut, momentum isn't his absolute best, but it's pretty darn good for his first solo effort. He did much better than tait and kevin max. My favorite songs are: get this party started, momentum, extreme days, and irene.
Great album| Posted February 13, 2010
The first solo project from tobyMac is a great album. It is different to his other projects because this one has a lot of rap and rock. It features great songs like Get This Party Started, Irene, Extreme Days, J-Train and Yours.
Momentum| Posted July 23, 2009
After seperating from dc Talk, tobyMac wanted to show the world that he was still continuing with his music. This was the introduction to his new sound, blending rap, rock and hip hop all into one cd.
I liked most of the upbeat party songs such as "Get this Party Started" and "J-Train". But some of the songs, such as "What's Goin Down" and "Extreme Days" were a little overdone. A little too extreme for me. I liked some of the softer songs such as "In The Air" and "Love is in the House" mostly because of the words. And I absolutely loved Tru-Dog.
I guess my favorite song on this cd would have to be "Irene" just because of its melody and the story that is told in the words. It really is a great song if you listen to the lyrics.
Overall, I'd say this was a great first cd for tobyMac as a solo artist.
His Got Momentum!| Posted June 04, 2009
I remember my first tobyMac song. Through the years I still believe its one of his best. 'Whoopsi Daisy' (is that the right spelling?) was the song my sister and I rocked to on Friday afternoons. For almost a year it featured on the local youth radio program's (C.O.O.L. = Christ our only Leader) countdown and we quickly became hard-core fans. We were even the first to request it on the weekday request program (which mostly featured more contemporary artists) giving the nation a chance to rock as well!!!
Even though this song is not included on his album 'Momentum' we still loved it from the first listen. Raw lyrics in the information-overload rap style that broadcasts a loud, honest and gritty message of truth and hope while questioning the morals of his listeners and inspiring his audience to raise their lives up higher to God's glory while looking for answers on life's questions.
Not a second of boredom ensues the moment you place this cd in your player. Rock (sometimes sort of metal) and hard to mellow, guitar -driven hip hop creates a funky, yet earnest mood. Mac's creative personality introduces an easy cross over from song to song while guest artists (such as Kirk Franklin) cause the album to be even more diverse.
'Momentum’ starts with the strong, loud sounds of ‘Get This Party Started’ that acts as an intro that asks God to bless the album and let His will be done through it. The songs that follow question our judgment on people who are less ‘perfect’ than we expect them to be, the choices we make throughout our lives and inspire the listener to be radical concerning their faith.
The album is very well produced with a few ‘personal notes’ or ‘breathers’ between every couple of songs, revealing more of T. Mac’s character to the listener. It is also jam-packed with a total of 18 songs (12 songs and 6 the above-mentioned ‘breathers’) that entertains in a punk and funky manner that disguises the depth of the questions asked.
Definitely recommended to fans and others alike-just as long as you’re a fan of hard rock and hip-hop.
great piece of work| Posted January 10, 2009
While trying to establish himself as a solo artist tobymac creates one of the best cd's in "Momentum".Bringing back the rap that DC Talk had in the early years toby creates great songs."Momentum" also gave toby his first number one song as a solo artist("Extreme Days") and "Momentum" also was his first gold certified cd.
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