Arrested Development biography
Arrested Development is an American alternative hip hop group, founded by Speech and Headliner as a positive, Afrocentric alternative to the gangsta rap popular in the early 1990s.
History
It took the group three years, five months and two days to be offered a recording contract, when Chrysalis Records sent A&R director Duff Marlowe to Atlanta's Bosstown Studios to meet with the group's manager Michael Mauldin. Arrested Development had already been offered a single deal for the song "Tennessee," hence the name of the first album,
3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of..., which produced several hit tracks. These included "Tennessee", "People Everyday", and "Mr. Wendal," all of which hit the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100.
The group won two Grammy Awards in 1993 for Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, and were also named Band of the Year by Rolling Stone magazine. 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... was the number-one album in the Village Voice's 1992 Pazz and Jop Critic's Poll.
A few months later, the group was approached by film director Spike Lee, to compose a song for his upcoming biopic based on the life of Malcolm X. The group then recorded "Revolution," which appeared on the oldies-dominated soundtrack for the film, as well as the second half of its closing credits when the film was released in 1992.
Their 1994 follow-up Zingalamaduni, which did well with some critics, but was panned by others, sold poorly. After the group broke up due to "creative differences" in 1996, Speech released a solo album; sales were poor in the United States but better in Japan. The group reunited in 2000 (without Headliner and Earle Taree) 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 United States, they have met consistent success in Japan.
The female vocalist on "Tennessee", Dionne Farris, released a successful solo album in 1994, Wild Seed-Wild Flower. The album spawned the hit single "I Know."
Baba Oje is the group's spiritual elder. He and Speech met at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee when they were both students. Baba Oje was 57 years old at the time.
In November 2003, the group sued the Fox network over the name of the TV show Arrested Development. The suit is referenced in the Arrested Development episodes "Public Relations", "Motherboy XXX" and "For British Eyes Only".
In June 2005, the group won the first round of NBC's television series contest Hit Me Baby One More Time, performing "Tennessee" and covering Los Lonely Boys' "Heaven." They gave the proceeds ($20,000) to UNICEF.
The group's follow-up to their 2004 Among The Trees, was Since The Last Time, released internationally (not in the U.S.) on September 18, 2006. Since The Last Time was later released in the United States on October 30, 2007, on Vagabond Record & Tapes, Speech's boutique label.
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