"Made to Love" is a song by

contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

singer

tobyMac Toby McKeehan (born Kevin Michael McKeehan; October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC), is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He was first known f ...

from his third album, ''

Portable Sounds ''Portable Sounds'', stylized as (portable sounds), is the third full-length studio album from Christian pop rock and hip hop artist tobyMac. It was released on February 20, 2007, and debuted at No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album incl ...

''. It was released as the album's lead single on December 26, 2006. This was also included on the compilation album, ''

WOW Hits 2008 ''WOW Hits 2008'' is a two-disc compilation album comprising some of the biggest hits on Christian radio from the previous year. Disc one features more of the adult contemporary hits, while disc two features the CHR/Pop and Rock hits. On Novemb ...

''.

Music and lyrics

"Made to Love" is generally considered a

Christian worship In Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is ("to worship") which means to bow down to God or kings. Throughout most ...

song, both musically and lyrically. It has been labeled as having a "laidback groove" with a

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

sound. Toby has said it was meant to be released on the ''

Welcome to Diverse City ''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 thi ...

'' album but he was never satisfied with the verses. The idea of the song and chorus existed for over 4–5 years prior to the actual release. He has said it was barely done in time for ''

'' as well.

Release

"Made to Love" was released on December 26, 2006, in both the digital download and CD formats, and includes a "musical mayhem remix" by

Matt Bronleewe Matthew Ryan Bronleewe (born December 13, 1973) is an American record producer, musician, novelist and songwriter. Biography Matt Bronleewe was born on December 13, 1973, in Dallas, Texas. As a boy, he moved to central Kansas, Lorraine, with his ...

. The song quickly began to climb on ''R&R'''s

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

(CHR) chart at the start of 2007, and reached No. 1 during the first week of January 2007. At the end of 2007, it placed as the second top-played song on ''R&Rs Christian CHR chart for the year, and the seventh most played song on Christian AC radio. That year the song received a total of more than 23,800 plays on the Christian CHR format, and over 29,600 plays on the Christian AC format.

Reception

The song was received relatively well by music critics.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer Rick Anderson said that the song felt "perfectly natural — though he does sound a bit too much like a Sting imitator during the reggae interlude near the end of 'Made to Love'." Kim Jones of

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considered it to be tobyMac's best song of his solo career, and ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...

s Christa Banister called it "irresistibly catchy".

Awards

In 2008, the song was nominated for a

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

for Song of the Year at the

39th GMA Dove Awards The 39th Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 23, 2008 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2007. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee. Nominations were announced on February 14, ...

.Nominations Announced for 39th GMA Dove Awards
on CBN.com (February 14, 2008) The song also received a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination in 2008 for Best Gospel Song.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

"Made to Love" lyrics
at

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{{authority control 2006 singles TobyMac songs Songs written by TobyMac Songs written by Cary Barlowe 2006 songs ForeFront Records singles