Tony Cummings reports on the TOBY McKEEHAN song "21 Years" dedicated to rapper Shiloh

TobyMac, the one-time member of dcTalk who with that band and his subsequent solo releases has sold more than 10 million albums and won seven Grammy Awards, has released a very special single/video. The song "21 Years" is dedicated to Toby's 21 year old son Truett McKeehan who rapped under the names Tru Dog and later Shiloh and who was pursuing a career as a rapper in Los Angeles and who died on 23rd October last year.

Wrote Toby about his new single/video, "'21 Years' is a song I wrote about the recent passing of my firstborn son, Truett Foster McKeehan. I loved him with all my heart. Until something in life hits you this hard, you never know how you will handle it. I am thankful that I have been surrounded by love, starting with God's and extending to community near and far that have walked with us and carried us every day. Writing this song felt like an honest confession of the questions, pain, anger, doubt, mercy and promise that describes the journey I'm probably only beginning. The rest is yet to come. One thing I know is that I am not alone. God didn't promise us a life of no pain or even tragic death, but he did promise he would never leave us or forsake us. And I'm holding dearly to that promise for my son as well as myself."

In pictures taken at Truett's funeral shared by TobyMac, pallbearers wearing red Shiloh hoodies carried the young rapper's coffin to the grave. At the funeral TobyMac said, "God has the power to do what he promised, defeat death and give life to anyone who believes. So from the valley of the shadow of death, we pray a flood of thankfulness will rise this week. Thankfulness to a kind God who is not afraid."

Soon after his son's untimely passing, TobyMac launched the Truett Foster Foundation in his honour. The charity was established to raise funds for college scholarships. In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations to the foundation.