Arrested Development (hip hop crew)
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Arrested Development is a progressive hip-hop group, founded as a positive, Afrocentric alternative to the gangsta rap popular in the early 1990s by Speech and Headliner.
It took the group three years, five months and two days to be offered a record deal. Hence the name of the first album was 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of..., which produced several hit tracks. These included "Tennessee", "People Everyday", and "Mr. Wendal", which hit the top ten. The group won a Grammy for Best Rap Album and Best New Artist, and were also Band of the Year for Rolling Stone. The follow up was 1994's Zingalamaduni, which did very well with some critics but was panned by many others, and the album sold poorly. After the group broke up in 1996, Speech released a solo album, but sales were poor. The group reunited in 2000 (sans Headliner) and has been touring and releasing records via Speech's Vagabond Productions and Speech Music. While Arrested Development has struggled to regain a following in the U.S., they have met with moderate and consistent success in Japan.
The haunting voice behind "Tennessee", Dionne Farris (who was never an official member of the band and frequently clashed with Speech), had a successful solo release in 1994 with Wild Seed-Wild Flower. Her album spawned the hit single, "I Know".
In June, 2005, the group won the first round of NBC's Hit Me Baby One More Time, performing "Tennessee" and covering Los Lonely Boys' "Heaven".
Discography
- 1992 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of...
- 1993 Arrested Development Unplugged
- 1994 Zingalamaduni
- 2000 Da Feelin' (LP)
- 2002 Heroes of the Harvest
- 2005 Among the Trees
Samples
- Download sample of Arrested Development's cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"
External link
- SpeechMusic (http://www.speechmusic.com/index.shtml) - Official website of Arrested Development and Speech.de:Arrested Development (Musikgruppe)