''Tonight'' is the fourth full-length solo album by

Christian hip hop Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United S ...

artist

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 ...

. It is the follow-up album to his 2007 release ''

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 ...

'', and was released on February 9, 2010. The Deluxe Version of the album contains a DVD with interviews with Toby about the songs on the record, the making of this record and an inside look at the Diverse City Band. The album debuted at No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 79,000 units in its first week. As of early November 2010, the album has sold over 315,000 copies.

Recording

When asked about the album by stereotruth.net Toby had the following to say about the emotions that went into producing it; "The recording process means a lot to me, and I don't approach what I do haphazardly. I have a lot of passion when it comes to my records. I don't know if it's good or bad, but there's this range of emotions that come with making a record. Music is something that can actually open people’s minds to who God is. Music will never change the world, but God can choose to use music, and that's what I count on. I want my songs to be said in a way that anyone can relate to them. I want them to move people's lives forward; move people toward God, and if I'm accomplishing that, whether or not anyone loves this record, as long as I feel like that is what I’m doing, then I feel like my job is done."

Singles

" City on Our Knees" was released as the lead single from the album on August 14, 2009. It peaked at No. 1 on ''Billboard''s

Hot Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...

chart. On January 26, 2010, " Get Back Up" was released as the album's second single. The song also peaked at No. 1 on ''Billboard''s Hot Christian Songs chart. He donated 100% of his artist royalties from first week sales of the single to relief efforts for Haiti after the

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

that devastated the country. The third single from the album, "Hold On", was released on October 19, 2010. "Tonight" was released as the fourth single on March 21, 2011. It was used as the theme for

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

team preview show, ''30 Clubs in 30 Days'', as well as being used in a commercial for ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

''. A music video for the song was released on February 8, 2010. Both "Start Somewhere" and "Changed Forever" impacted

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

as the fifth and sixth singles from the album on October 10, 2011.

Other songs

"Showstopper" was used as a part of the NFL

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

promotional material, and the 2009

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. It also has been the official theme song for the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

Fatal 4-Way Pay-Per View event, and the song was also promoted for

ESPY An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...

's Best US Male Olympian. "Showstopper" and "Funky Jesus Music" were both premiered at the Winter Wonder Slam 09 Tour. "Funky Jesus Music" was included on the "Hits Deep Live" album. On "Hits Deep Live" when TobyMac tells the crowd to say, "Ola Ola Eh" this is a reference to the song

Sweet Dreams (La Bouche song) "Sweet Dreams (Ola Ola E)" is a song recorded by German Eurodance duo La Bouche. It was originally released in March 1994 as the lead single from their Sweet Dreams (La Bouche album), debut album of the same name (1995). In North America, the son ...

La Bouche La Bouche (French for "The Mouth", ) is a Germany, German-America, American Eurodance, Euro-Dance duo best known for the hits "Be My Lover (La Bouche song), Be My Lover", "Sweet Dreams (La Bouche song), Sweet Dreams", "You Won't Forget Me (song), ...

Accolades

The album won 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 Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year at the

42nd GMA Dove Awards The 42nd Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 20, 2011, at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. The show was broadcast on GMC on April 24, 2011, hosted by Sherri Shepherd from ''The Newlywed Game''. Nominations were announced on ...

. The songs " Get Back Up", "Tonight" and " Showstopper" were also nominated.42nd Annual GMA Dove Awards Nominees
on DoveAwards.com

Track listing

Notes * signifies a remixer.

Personnel

Toby McKeehan 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 ...

- vocals, guitars, programming, keyboards * Christopher Stevens - guitars, programming, keyboards, drums, background vocals * David Wyatt - programming, keys *

Cary Barlowe Cary Barlowe (born 1982) is an American country music songwriter, and a former member of the rock band Luna Halo. Born in Virginia and raised in North Carolina, Barlowe originally performed with his older brother Nathan in the rock group Lu ...

- guitars, acoustic guitar, background vocals * Tim Rosenau - guitars, trumpet *

Jesse Frasure Jesse Vernon Frasure (born September 18, 1981), also known as DJ Telemitry, is an American music publisher, record producer, songwriter, and DJ. Biography A Detroit native, Frasure (DJ Telemitry), now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wif ...

- programming, keyboards, background vocals * Brian Haley - drums * Justin York - guitars * Tony Lucido - bass * Byron " Mr. TalkBox" Chambers - talkbox * Jamie Moore - keyboards, programming * Wendell Henry - drums * John Cooper - background vocals on "Tonight" * Paul Moak - electric guitar * Michael Ripoll - guitars * Mike Payne - guitar, banjo, electric guitar *

Israel Houghton Israel Houghton (; born May 19, 1971) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, producer and worship leader. He is usually credited as Israel & New Breed. Musical career Houghton produced an album by Michael Gungor, ''Big ...

- background vocals on "Break Open the Sky" * Taylor Stevens - piano * Adam Nitti - bass *

DJ Maj Michael Joseph "Mike" Allen (born October 9, 1970), professionally known as DJ Maj, is a Christian music DJ and rapper, contributing to gospel music albums released by tobyMac, GRITS, Ill Harmonics, Carman, dc Talk, and the Newsboys. DJ Maj ha ...

- DJ * Sammy Sylvester - bass, electric guitar * Leif Shires - trumpet * Craig Swift - saxophone * Kenn Hughes - trombone * Nirva Dorsaint-Ready - background vocals * Gabriel Patillo - background vocals * Jason Eskridge - background vocals * Siti Monroe - background vocals *

Matthew Thiessen Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born August 12, 1980) is a Canadian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the Christian rock band Relient K. Wit ...

- background vocals on "Wonderin'" *

Ayiesha Woods Ayiesha Woods (born July 2, 1979) is a contemporary Christian musician signed to Gotee Records. She has released two studio albums on Gotee: '' Introducing Ayiesha Woods'' (2006) and '' Love Like This'' (2008). Woods is known for the hit songs " H ...

- background vocals * Jovaun Woods - background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control TobyMac albums ForeFront Records albums 2010 albums Albums produced by TobyMac