Before Darius, only two other African-Americans topped the country music charts—Ray Charles and Charlie Pride. "I can't believe my name is in that same sentence," he says.

Although he's honored, Darius says he didn't write the album to break barriers. "I was just trying to make a record people wanted to hear, and to have done that and for all the stuff to happen just blows me away," he says. "I'm on Oprah for goodness' sake! That blows me away."