Welcome to Diverse City
Welcome to Diverse City is the second studio album released by Christian rapper 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, Coffee from GRITS, DJ Maj, Papa San, Paul Wright, Superchick, and T-Bone.
TobyMac also reunites DC Talk on vocals in a remix of his song "Atmosphere", the last track of the album. The album has sold over 600,000 copies in the United States.
History
In addition to being one of two tobyMac albums that didn't crack the top 20 on the Billboard 200, Welcome to Diverse City is his longest album by duration and second longest by track listing.Personnel
- TobyMac – vocals, synthesizer
- Coffee – vocals on "Hey Now"
- Papa San – vocals on "Catachafire "
- M.O.C. – vocals on "Catachafire "
- T-Bone – vocals on "The Slam"
- Max Hsu – keys and synthesizer on "Stories "
- Dave Ghazarian – guitar and bass on "Stories "
- Matt Dally – vocals and guitar on "Stories "
- Brian Gocher – synthesizer on "Stories "
- Tricia Brock – vocals on "Stories "
- Melissa Brock – vocals on "Stories "
- Brandon Estelle – vocals on "Stories "
- Randy Crawford, TruDog – vocals on "Gotta Go"
- DC Talk – vocals on "Atmosphere "
- Jaime Moore – synthesizer, bass
- Mike Haynes – horns
- Mark Douthit – horns
- 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 piano
- 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"
- Terrian - Vocals
- Coffee from GRITS
- Truett McKeehan AKA Tru-Dog
- dc Talk
- M.O.C.
- Papa San
- Superchick|Superchic
- Bootsy Collins
Accolades
On 2005, the album won a Dove Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards.Uses in 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, Transporter 2, 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 " 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.
- "Phenomenon" appeared on WOW Hits 2004.
- "Gone" appeared on WOW Hits 2005.
- "Atmosphere ", featuring dc Talk, appeared on WOW Hits 2006.
- A "Shortwave Radio Mix" of "Burn for You" appeared on WOW Hits 2007.
- "Fresher Than A Night At The W" appeared on an animated kids christian film The Roach Approach: The Mane Event in 2005. The song was re-recorded with a different title "Fresher Than A Night At The Cave W" And during the episode, TobyMac voicing Fang the bat.