| "Colored People" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by DC Talk | ||||
| from the album Jesus Freak | ||||
| Released | December 22, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1995 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock, CCM | |||
| Length | 4:26 | |||
| Label | ForeFront/Virgin | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Toby McKeehan, George Cocchini | |||
| Producer(s) | Mark Heimermann, Toby McKeehan, John Mark Painter | |||
| DC Talk singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio sample | ||||
"Colored People" is a song written and recorded by Christian rock band DC Talk. The song was one of several radio singles released from their 1995 studio album, Jesus Freak .
"Colored People" is a pop rock song primarily based on acoustic guitars, a background electric guitar, and occasional strings. The verses are sung by Kevin Max, while the chorus vocals are shared by all three members with Michael Tait leading. Lyrically, the song is about appreciation of racial variety, promoting unity and a "kaleidoscopic take on race relations". [1]
The song was released as a single in 1996 and received positive comments from music critics. Entertainment Weekly editor Laura Jamison said that the album Jesus Freak "combines textured vocals, aggressive guitar, and solid songwriting, especially on 'Colored People'." [2]
In addition to "Jesus Freak" and "Between You and Me," "Colored People" was considered instrumental in breaking DC Talk into the mainstream. [3]
Various versions of "Colored People" have appeared on several DC Talk official releases, including the band's greatest hits album Intermission . [4] A live version of "Colored People" was included on the 1997 live release Welcome to the Freak Show . [5] "Colored People" also appears on the compilation album WOW 1998 .
On the DC Talk tribute album, Freaked! , Ayiesha Woods recorded a cover of "Colored People" featuring The Gotee Brothers and John Reuben. [6]
DC Talk is a Christian rap and rock trio. The group was formed at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max Smith. They released five major studio albums together: dc Talk (1989), Nu Thang (1990), Free at Last (1992), Jesus Freak (1995), and Supernatural (1998). In 2002, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music called dc Talk "the most popular overtly Christian act of all time."
Jesus Freak is the fourth studio album by the American Christian rap and rock trio DC Talk, released on November 21, 1995, on ForeFront Records. The style was a marked departure from the group's previous releases, incorporating a heavier rock sound and elements of grunge that was popular at the time.
Toby McKeehan, better known by his stage name TobyMac, is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. He was first known for being a member of the Christian rap and rock trio dc Talk, staying with them from 1987 until they went on hiatus in 2000. He has since continued a successful solo career with the release of nine studio albums: Momentum (2001), Welcome to Diverse City (2004), Portable Sounds (2007), Tonight (2010), Christmas in Diverse City (2011), Eye on It (2012), This Is Not a Test (2015), The Elements (2018), and Life After Death (2022) as well as five remixed albums: Re:Mix Momentum (2003), Renovating Diverse City (2005), Dubbed and Freq'd: A Remix Project (2012), Eye'm All Mixed Up (2014) and The St. Nemele Collab Sessions (2019). He also has two full-length Christmas albums: Christmas in Diverse City (2011) and Light Of Christmas (2017). He became the third Christian artist to have a No. 1 debut on Billboard 200 chart with Eye on It.
Welcome to the Freak Show is a live audio and video recording by DC Talk. Chronicling the Jesus Freak Tour in the spring of 1996, they were released separately two months apart in 1997 on CD and VHS, respectively. A DVD version was later released in 2003. Each version has been certified gold by the RIAA. Track listings differ slightly between the two. Select videos included a bonus audio disc that remains one of the rarest recordings in the DC Talk catalog. The audio version won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album.
Intermission: the Greatest Hits is a compilation album released by DC Talk. It features songs from their studio albums beginning with Free at Last until their last full studio album; Supernatural. It also contains the tracks "Chance", "Sugar Coat It" and a remix of "Say the Words", which were recorded especially for this album.
Michael DeWayne Tait is an American contemporary Christian music artist. Michael Tait met Toby McKeehan in 1984 when he was in high school. Both Toby and Michael met Kevin Max while attending Liberty University in the late 1980s, and together they formed four-time Grammy winning band DC Talk, with whom Michael Tait has released five acclaimed studio albums. Tait is the current lead singer of Newsboys, and one third of Christian rock group DC Talk. Tait also has had success in his solo career, founding a band called Tait in 1997. He toured as a solo act until 2007. He became lead singer of the Christian pop rock band Newsboys in 2009. Aside from singing, Tait is also a self-taught guitar player. Tait also has a sister Lynda Randle, who is a Southern Gospel singer.
Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio, by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman during their third year in high school and time at Malone University. The band is named after guitarist Hoopes' automobile, a Plymouth Reliant K car, with the spelling intentionally altered to avoid trademark infringement over the Reliant name.
Gotee Records is a record label of Christian hip-hop, based in Franklin, Tennessee in the United States.
Sarah Jean Kelly is an American contemporary Christian musician from Rockford, Illinois. She was signed to Gotee Records, a Christian label under EMI. Kelly is a two time Grammy Award nominee for albums "Take Me Away" and Where The Past Meets Today in the category of Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album. Her music has compared to mainstream artists Sheryl Crow, Janis Joplin, Norah Jones, Carole King, and Sarah McLachlan. She runs a music school in The Woodlands, TX.
"Jesus Freak" is a song by the American contemporary Christian music group DC Talk. Released on August 1, 1995, it was the lead radio single from the group's fourth album. The song was written and produced by Toby McKeehan and Mark Heimermann. Lyrically, the song is about standing up for the belief in Jesus Christ in the midst of persecution. Musically, the song has been described as alternative rock and grunge. It received airplay on both contemporary Christian music and alternative rock stations, formats that rarely interact. "Jesus Freak" earned DC Talk three GMA Dove Awards.
FF5 is an American Christian rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band formed in 2004 by brothers Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, and Jacob "Crouton" Olds along with their two friends, Nathan "Nadaddy" Currin and Brad "20 Cent" Allen, who was later replaced by Derek "Chapstique" Mount. The group has released five studio albums, nine EPs, and two remix albums. They are often noted for their raucous, party-centric personae and eclectic mix of genres, ranging from rap metal to dance-pop.
House of Heroes is an American alternative rock band from Columbus, Ohio. They have released six albums: What You Want Is Now (2003), House of Heroes (2005), The End Is Not the End (2008), Suburba (2010), Cold Hard Want (2012), and Colors (2016). The band also released the album Ten Months (2001) under their original name, No Tagbacks, which had more of a punk sound than their releases as House of Heroes. They also re-released their self-titled record under the name of Say No More (2006). The band was last composed of Tim Skipper, Colin Rigsby, A.J. Babcock, Jared Rigsby, and Eric Newcomer.
Freaked!: A Gotee Tribute to DC Talk'sJesus Freak is a 2006 tribute album primarily featuring covers of songs from the American Christian rap and rock trio DC Talk's 1995 album Jesus Freak, performed by various artists signed to the Gotee Records label.
4th Avenue Jones was an American alternative hip hop band based in Los Angeles, California. The band was conceived by Ahmad Ali Lewis, popularly known as Ahmad. The band's name comes from the popular idiom "Keeping up with the Joneses" and the street in South Central Los Angeles where they began their rehearsals.
Fighting Instinct was a Christian rock band formed in Winston-Salem/Greensboro, North Carolina. It was founded by TJ Harris and Dallas Farmer. They played together for several years before they met up with Jason Weekly in the Winston-Salem/Greensboro area. Jason Weekly came up with the band's name.
The Free at Last – Extended Play Remixes is a remix EP by Christian rap/rock/pop trio dc Talk. The EP was released in the summer of 1994 on the heels of the Grammy Award-winning and platinum-selling album Free at Last. The album's three main hits were remixed for this release. The "Extended Play Remixes" was a three-part series released by ForeFront Records in 1994 with the other two by Audio Adrenaline and Code of Ethics. The series extended into the next year with releases by Geoff Moore and the Distance and Rebecca St. James.
Let It Snow, Baby... Let It Reindeer is the second Christmas album by Christian rock band Relient K.
"Between You and Me" is a song by the American contemporary Christian music group DC Talk. Released in 1996, it was the second radio and commercial single released from the group's fourth album, Jesus Freak. After the unexpected success of the grunge rock single "Jesus Freak", "Between You and Me" helped to bring DC Talk to a new level of success and solidify them as mainstream artists. The song later earned DC Talk a GMA Dove Award and is the only DC Talk single to have charted on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was also a Christian radio success and peaked at No. 1 on both the Christian adult contemporary and Christian Contemporary Hit Radio CCM Magazine charts.
The discography of DC Talk, a Christian music band formed in the late 1980s in Lynchburg, Virginia, consists of five studio albums, three extended plays, and twenty-three singles. The group consists of Toby McKeehan, Kevin Max, and Michael Tait. They began as a hip hop group, but in the mid-90s they reinvented themselves as a pop/rock group. In both instances, they found critical and commercial success in both the Christian music industry as well as the general market.
"What If I Stumble?" is a song by the American contemporary Christian music group DC Talk. Released in 1995, it was the third radio single from the group's fourth album, Jesus Freak.