The year is 2001, and rap-rock/nu-metal is still ruling the air waves. For the Christian music fan, the year signals the time of mourning as its shining star DC Talk went on an indefinite hiatus. The team of Toby, Mike, and Kevin were no more a trio, and it was time for T-Mac to step up.

"TobyMac...Momentum...begin sequence" chatted a robotic computer voice, and then "Bam!", crunchy guitars and a heavily dissonant drum beat crashed in.

"Well every body, every body in the place to be, open up your mind and let your soul be free, I can feel the most high shining on me...let's get this party started!"

Say hello to the beginning of 2001's Momentum, and TobyMac's first solo venture. What he was able to do was capture some of his bridled energy from before DC Talk's Supernatural and Jesus Freak to when he was pretty much the frontman of DC Talk in their more hip-hop days. He then added the musical flavor of the time period he was in and created a classic album that watched Toby turn into a complete artist.

Now-a-days, Toby has admittedly taken the pop, dance and slight hip-hop influenced route as an older artist, but nearly 15 years ago he was still rapping and busting out songs with ferocity.

(Photo : Wiki media)

"Get This Party Started" and "What's Goin' Down" was Toby at his absolute hardcore rock. He was not screaming in the rock sense, but he certainly was yelling and attacking the vocals as the opening tracks were a wake up call and slap to the face.

What followed is definitely one of his best written songs. From the Spanish guitars, infectious chorus, and powerful lyrics, "Irene" may fit more on his next album Diverse City, but no matter, the song is amazing. After an interlude, Mr. Mac brings out a little bit of his southern gospel flare as he teams up with Kirk Franklin to take people on a ride to the "J Train."

"Do You Know" brings the album back into the hip-hop groove. He opens up about a father's love, both his and God's. The beat is super funky and Toby does his thing on the track. That father's love is expressed on the next track, "Tru-Dog" when Toby introduces his son, which is something that will happen on every album of his.

The rock gets brought back on "Momentum." The verses are rapped, and the choruses are alive with the yelling anthem of the Great Commission. This flows perfectly into another anthem, "Yours." "I'm yours, take me as I am. So won't you take this space between us and fill it up again."

Another interlude takes the listener into "Wondering' Why" where TobyMac talks about coming back to hip-hop after mostly rock and pop songs appeared on DC Talk's last two albums. This track's bass line hits hard and heavy.

Toby follows up with another hip-hop track, "Somebody's Watching." He takes a classic song and throws a Christian theme on it turning "somebody" into a watching God.

The computerized robot makes his return in a skit and then Toby revisits his southern roots again with "Love is in the House." This is probably the most unique sounding song on the album, and is kind of funny as well.

Up next is "Extreme Days" which was the first taste fans got of solo TobyMac. Sorry for the comparison, but Toby got his inner Fred Durst on and rap/rocked all over this track. The turntables, samples, and great mix of both genres are put into this song.

"Don't Bring Me Down" is kind of a funny filler track to "bring down" the tone of the record. The closing track "In the Air" is a really cool concept song, and hits more on Toby's pop side. The track refers to the rapture and meeting everyone up "in the air."

Lastly, the album ends off with "Afterword" and is kind of a reprise of "Do You Know." It serves as a nice little outro to the album.

Overall Momentum delivered and was even better than DC Talk/TobyMac fans could even imagine. It holds up well in 2014, and sparked a whole other career for one of the pioneers of Christian music. The production, the lyrics, and the message are on point and still poignant.

TobyMac has been in Christian music for around 25 years and is still just as relevant now as he was before. Serving as the industry's true renaissance man, Momentum carried him forward to the artist he is now.