NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The hip-hop group Arrested Development is still making music on their own terms by releasing two new albums this year, one that is a free download and another one for sale.
The group’s 1992 debut, “3 Years, 5 Months, and 2 Days in the Life of…,” sold over four million albums due to their hit singles “Tennessee,” ”Everyday People” and “Mr. Wendal,” which stood out in the rap genre with their spiritual and socially conscious lyrics about God, poverty and family.
That message hasn’t changed for Speech, the frontman of the six-piece collective, although the music industry definitely has.
“The music industry has been sick and sales have been dismal for everybody,” said Speech, whose real name is Todd Thomas, during a recent interview in Nashville, Tennessee. “Nothing was happening and we were collecting all this music that we felt really passionate about. So we decided to just release it, just drop it.”
Since their debut, Arrested Development has been considered an outlier in the genre. They were critical favorites for their mix of pop, funk, rap and R&B samples and earned two Grammy Awards for best rap performance by a duo or group and best new artist – one of the few rap acts to take home the honor. But Speech said their overtly positive messages didn’t always resonate with other rappers or record labels.