TobyMac seizes the moment for latest album, Sears Centre show

More than any other time in his two-decade career, TobyMac was put to the test on his latest record, "This Is Not A Test." A series of personal setbacks and, conversely, becoming only the third Christian artist to have a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart with 2013's "Eye On It" put the pressure on for this year's follow-up and subsequent tour, which plays the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates on Friday, Oct. 23.

The message behind the album is: "We don't get practice runs at life. This is the real thing, so make the most of every day, every conversation and every relationship because this is it," says the artist born Kevin McKeehan.

Released in August, the 11 tracks feature a number of breakthroughs. There are songs about his ailing father and the first time he experienced God (as a teenager at summer camp), as well as experiments with adding more soul and funk to his hip-hop-flavored "musical gumbo." There are also special guest appearances by his up-and-coming emcee son Truett McKeehan, plus Michael Tait and Kevin Max, his former bandmates in the wildly successful '90s Christian group DC Talk, among the first pioneers to usher in the faith-based musical movement.

"We hadn't done anything together in 13, 14 years so I thought maybe this song is the right one to rally behind," he admits of the intimate number "Love Feels Like," written by McKeehan about caring for both his father, who died six months ago, and a son diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. "Love had taken on a new depth for me, the kind of love that requires hands and feet and serving others. It's hard physically and it's taxing, but it's the most fulfilling love I've ever experienced."

Turning 51 this week, McKeehan admits he has different relationships with many important facets in his life, not the least of which is music. "It's changed a lot over the years," he admits, from when he grew up on the East Coast listening to Run DMC and writing his own raps in his bedroom to finding the faith to write about his own experiences as he got older and became a husband and a father. "If anything I've become more transparent, and I think art speaks to people when you are honest."

Certainly his ongoing success would prove his point. After leaving DC Talk in 2001 to pursue a solo career, he's produced six charting albums, won six Grammy Awards, sold 11 million units, started his own record label, Gotee Records, and produced a series of popular tours, including the current one.

Though Christian music has carried with it a heavy dogma, McKeehan says "without a doubt" it's becoming more mainstream.

"I used to be scared for my music to be labeled Christian music because I thought it would fall on deaf ears, but now people aren't so taken aback by the term or frozen by it," he says. "I think listeners realize it's not about beating them over the head or force-feeding a message, but that these songs are simply about life."

Where his own life takes him is still up in the air. With the latest collaboration, there are rumors of a DC Talk reunion, which McKeehan says could happen.

"There's no plan, but there's not a closed door in any of our minds," he says. "Our hearts are there and the friendship is there and history is there."

Still, his focus is on moving forward, particularly with the Gotee Records roster, which includes Relient K, Capital Kings, Jamie Grace and solo artist Hollyn who are joining McKeehan on tour.

"I'm supposed to inspire them and I guess I do to some degree," he says of the burgeoning talent he has been working with lately, "but they always end up inspiring me and in turn make me more passionate about my own art watching how passionate they are about theirs."