Six-time Grammy Award-winning Christian rapper TobyMac will bring his “This is Not a Test” tour to the Events Center at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 8.
The tour is in support of the rapper’s seventh album, “This is Not a Test,” which was released in early August. TobyMac began his music career as a member of the Christian rap/rock trio DC Talk in 1989. The group released five albums before going on hiatus in 2000.
The rapper released his debut solo album, “Momentum,” in 2001. The album went gold and was nominated for Best Rock Gospel album in 2003 and solidified the rapper’s status as a mainstay in contemporary Christian music. He is considered one of the first and best Christian rappers in music.
TobyMac’s sixth album, “Eye on It,” which experimented with a dubstep sound, debuted No. 1 on the Billboard 200. This marked the first time a Christian album opened at number one since LeAnn Rimes’s 1997 album “You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs.”
Daniel Ortenzi, a member of Koinonia, BU’s Christian a cappella group and a senior majoring in biomedical engineering, remembers listening to TobyMac as a child.
“TobyMac’s career has been very influential to all genres of Christian music,” said Ortenzi. “He was one of the first to mainstream Christian rap and rock, paving the way for more modern artists like Lecrae and Skillet.”
Since the start of his career with DC Talk in 1987, TobyMac has sold over 10 million albums.
Supporting TobyMac will be Christian pop star Britt Nicole, Colton Dixon — who was a contestant on the 11th season of “American Idol” — and newcomer Hollyn. Nicole began her career under her legal name, Brittany Waddell, before gaining success as Britt Nicole on the mainstream and Christian charts. Dixon, who came in seventh on her season of “American Idol,” has since released two albums. Hollyn, who gained success through her YouTube channel, has not released an album, but collaborated on two songs on TobyMac’s latest effort.
The tickets, ranging from $18 to $73, are available for purchase on the Events Center’s website or at the box office.