The singing trio of DC Talk strikes again with their latest hit CD Solo already in stores. This time, however, the double platinum group is hitting the Christian charts in a new way. The 13-year, three-man band decided to take a break from singing together and to go solo for an undetermined amount of time.
Solo consists of seven brand new songs, two new songs from each member of the band plus one unreleased song from the band together. Members of the band: K Max (Kevin Max), Tait (Micheal Tait), and Toby Mac (Toby McKeehan) resolved to do solo work with the exceptions of concerts like the one they preformed at the Billy Graham crusade on Oct 13.
“When you’ve spent over a dozen years as one third of an entity, then a part of you starts to wonder how much of what the band does is really you.” Toby Mac, said on going solo. “I guess I went solo because I needed to find out who I was as a solo artist.”
Going solo allowed the members of DC Talk to perform their own style of music. Toby Mac showed this with his new songs “Somebody’s watching over you” and “Extreme Days” (both on CD Solo). Both are more rap and rock then anything DC Talk produced in their 13 years together.
“I think DC Talk going solo is kind of disappointing,” Jennifer Jesser, ’02, said, “they are really good as a group. However, it is also kind of cool because know I can look forward to three new CDs from the band.”
Although some what split up DC Talk shows they can still produce excellent music, the proof of this is the awesome worship song “40 Live” the one group song on Solo. On the other end too going solo permits the group to express more of their own feelings in their songs.
“I wanted to write an anthem,” Kevin Max, about the song “Be” (also on Solo). “A song about self-realization. It became the cornerstone song for the project. The idea of being more powerful and useful, when realizing God’s design for your life, was a truth I wanted to convey. People in modern society seem to be chameleon-like, never wanting to be individual, always wanting to please the masses. Becoming a faceless, bland, brand of every diluted idea that culture can come up with. We can become more than we know, if we seek out the mystery of God and his blueprint for our lives.”
Michael Tait also expresses more of his own feelings in his solo CD Empty about his personal life and about losing his father, brother and sister all in a year’s time. Kevin Max and Toby Mac’s CDs Stereotype Be and Momentum also look very promising for the band members and they hope their CDs will be a bigger hit than Solo.
“Solo is a very diverse CD,” Douglas DenHartog, ’05, said,”that I like a lot. The CD is not just one kind of music, but a mixture of three unique styles.”
Solo is a great CD that proves even though DC Talk not longer produces music as a group, can still produce awesome music that will make you sing the lyrics along with them.
At the Billy Graham crusade DC Talk showed they could come together and rock the valley with their awesome music and message.
“DC Talk’s song ‘In the Light’ has to be one of my favorite songs,” Joe Petit, ’03, said. “Not only is the song good, but it also has a great message for people who listen to it. I admire DC Talk, because they have good music, but never allow their talent to get in the way of their message about God.”
DC Talk not only performed musically in their concert, but also gave great messages about love, prejudice and God.
“The Crusade was an awesome event,” Laura Berg, ’04, said. “I also thought it was really cool to see all the people who came down on the field and accepted Christ.”
DC Talk, Kirk Franklin, Gamiel Ruiz and Billy Graham brought in over 42,000 in Bulldog stadium (which broke the previous attendance record set a couple weeks before) and an extra 15,000 of over flow in Beiden Field. Altogether the crusade over 4 days brought 14,000 people to Christ, 58% of which were first time commitments.
Solo by DC Talk can be purchased at Berean or Majesty Bible stores for about $15.
Information about DC Talk was taken from www.dctalksolo.com.
