''What If We Were Real'' is the fourth studio album by CCM singer

Mandisa Mandisa Lynn Hundley () (October 2, 1976 – April 18, 2024), known mononymously as Mandisa, was an American gospel and contemporary Christian recording artist. She began her solo career as a contestant in the fifth season of ''American Ido ...

. The album was released on April 5, 2011 on

Sparrow Records Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Barry McGuire was the fi ...

. This album received a nomination at

54th Grammy Awards The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles being broadcast on CBS honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. LL Cool J hosted t ...

for

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards to artists and producers who make the best albums in the contemporary Christian music (CCM) genre from the National Academy of Recording Arts ...

Background

Mandisa began work on the album in July 2010. She also co-wrote three songs on the album. The album also features a guest appearance from

tobyMac Kevin Michael McKeehan (born October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. Widely regarded as one of the most ...

on the song "Good Morning".

Singles

The first single off of the album was " Stronger". It peaked at number one on the

Hot Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...

chart and as of August 31, 2011, has sold 194,000 copies. "Waiting for Tomorrow" was the second single and peaked at number nine on the

Hot Christian AC The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. "Good Morning" featuring Christian artist

TobyMac Kevin Michael McKeehan (born October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. Widely regarded as one of the most ...

was the third single. It sold 138,000 copies. On October 11, 2014 it has been certified Gold by

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Track listing

Personnel

* Mandisa – vocals, backing vocals * David Garcia – keyboards, programming, guitars, bass, backing vocals * Christopher Stevens – keyboards, programming, guitars, bass, backing vocals *

Dan Muckala Daniel John Muckala Work ID No. 881409494 ISWC No. T9052468594 is an American songwriter and producer. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Muckala was a musical composition student at Belmont University in Tennessee. Awards (select ...

– programming, arrangements * Chris Bevins – programming * Craig Swift – programming * Chance Scoggins – acoustic piano * Adam Lester – acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Tommy Platt – guitars * Justin Ostrander – guitars * Ron Robinson – guitars * Bernard Harris – bass * Tommy Lee – bass * Tony Lucido – bass * Jamie Holloway – drums * Garth Justice – drums * Matt Butler – cello * Zach Casebolt – cello * Claire Indie – cello * Blanca Callahan – backing vocals * Missi Hale – backing vocals * Jovaun Woods – backing vocals *

– rap (6)

Production

* Brad O'Donnell – A&R * Karrie Hardwick – A&R * David Garcia – producer (1, 7, 11), mixing (1, 7, 11) * Christopher Stevens – producer (1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11), mixing (1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11) * Dan Muckala – producer (3, 4, 10), mixing (3, 4, 10) * Chance Scoggins – producer (8) * Bill Whittington – engineer (8) * Kent Hooper – mixing (8) * Taylor Stevens – assistant engineer (1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11), editing (1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11) * Dan Deurloo – assistant engineer (3, 4, 10) *

Chuck Butler Charles Roland "Chuck" Butler (born February 10, 1971) is an American Pop, Film/TV and Christian music producer, songwriter and composer. He has received 3 Grammy Awards as well as 6 GMA Dove Awards for his songwriting and music production work. ...

– editing (3, 4, 10) *

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey. Gehringer is known for having mastered recordings by popular artists such as AJR, Dua Lipa, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Harry Styles, ...

– mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) * Jan Cook – art direction * Austin Hale – design * Kristin Barlowe – photography

Commercial performance

The album sold 8,000 copies, debuting at No. 66 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart and at number two on the

Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

chart. The album debuted with higher sales and peaked in better chart positions than her previous album, ''

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

Background

Singles

Track listing

Personnel

Production

Commercial performance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References