Hip-hop legends Arrested Development are coming to Portsmouth: 'Music is supposed to reflect the times' | Interview

Formed by rapper Speech and DJ Headliner in Atlanta, ‘spiritual elder’ Baba Oje was considered a key part of the lineup.

​Gangsta rap was in the ascendant, but here instead of a group of scowling young black-clad men bragging about guns and violence, was a vibrant piece of work that spoke of spirituality, peace and love, was politically aware and embraced African culture.

It’s attendant singles were from the rap norm – Tennessee is a reflection on the death of Speech’s grandmother and brother in quick succession, Mr Wendal is about homelessness, while People Everyday contrasted the gang lifestyle with pride in being African.

It went four times platinum in the US and platinum here in the UK as well as earning them a brace of Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Rap Single, two MTV awards, a Soul Train Music Award, and the coveted NAACP Image Award. Rolling Stone magazine named them Band of The Year in 1992 while VH-1 named them one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.

Follow-up Zingalamaduni (Swahili for ‘the beehive of culture’) continued to push the envelope but was considered a flop compared to 3 Years…

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While the band never ascended to the commercial heights of their debut again, they continued to tour and put out a steady stream of critically acclaimed albums.

The band is about to return to the UK, and will be playing a date at The Gaiety in Southsea.

The Guide caught up with Speech over Zoom, with the rapper in his studio at his home near Atlanta in Georgia.

‘It’s crazy that it’s 31 years since our debut!’ says Speech with mild surprise.

Given how different it was to much rap at the time, were the group intentionally trying to bring more socially conscious ideas into the mainstream?

‘I don't think it was that intentional – it was just a mixture of two feelings, you feel passionately about getting messages out there that can help people and strengthen people, and then simultaneously we just really love music and love the art of music.

‘Meshing those things together wasn't as intentional as some people think, it was just where our passions happened to be.’

And he admits that discovering Sly and The Family Stone was crucial to shaping the first album. UK number two single People Everyday heavily sampled the psychedelic-funk pioneers’ Everyday People.

‘I didn't know who Sly and The Family Stone was until about a year before I wrote People Everyday. I started learning about their music. There was a groove by Dr Dre and Snoop, Deep Cover, 187 I think it was called, that used a beat from Sly,’ it samples their hit Sing a Simple song, ‘and then there was a groove on the Jungle Brothers album, I think it was called Because I Got It Like That and that was from Sly as well,’ in this instance it as You can Make it if You Try.

‘I started thinking, where is this beat coming from? So I started researching it, and I was like, wow, I love this band! I'm glad I got to find out who Sly was because it was a big part of my trajectory as a writer.’

When asked how fame affected the band, he has one word: ‘Shellshocked!

‘It felt surreal,’ he adds. ‘Just imagine being a newborn baby because that's how it felt. Everything we were experiencing was new to us – it was our first album, first time being famous, first time having any money, first time dealing with New York and the record labels, first time having big crowds coming to our shows.

‘You’re learning so much all at the same time. There's a lot of data coming to you at the same time – it was crazy.’

However, Speech clearly had a strong sense of his band’s worth and potential longevity.

‘I sure hoped it would be the foundation of a career. I loved hip-hop that much and I definitely wanted to be part of the legacy of hip-hop, I felt we were writing stuff that was strong enough to be part of the story 31 years later.’

By the turn of the century Headliner had left the group and Speech formed Vagabond Productions to put their music out, among other things.

‘It was definitely a necessity to try and have some control over the business,’ he explains. ‘Everything was so new that I had to also learn very quickly how to keep any of this money we were making and have a team behind me to make business decisions that were advantageous for the group.

‘There were a lot of decisions being made by our managers and people around us at the label, and we wanted to make sure, I wanted to make sure that some of these choices were being made by me and my team, and Headliner and his team. It was definitely on purpose to do Vagabond early on.

‘And not to mention that I wanted to start creating music with other groups and release them, which I could do under Vagabond.

‘I think it was the right move. Vagabond did a lot of stuff – my company also used to promote shows, where I would bring in people like,’ he reels off a list of huge stars, ‘Goodie Mob and Outkast, Erykah Badu, The Roots, The Pharcyde, The Fugees and Ben Harper, you name it. We brought in so many fantastic acts, so that was part of what I wanted to do as well – to take control of the whole narrative of what was being promoted and what was getting out there to the fans of music on a local level, we did all of that in Atlanta.’

Throughout their career, they’ve continued to promote Afrocentrism and remained outward looking – they’ve worked with victims of domestic violence and in 2018 Speech visited a prison in Virginia for 10 days to create music with inmates, resulting in the powerful documentary 16 Bars. Then there’s also Black Existence, created as a worldwide resource for black diaspora culture, it’s described as ‘a must see for those wanting black inspiration on their social media feed’.

What does Speech think Arrested Development’s legacy is?

‘It's ultimately up to the people to decide that. What I'd like to see is that they knew we cared. If people come away thinking: “They cared, they cared about the music, they cared about the message, they cared about their live show – they care”, that would be great.’

Much has changed in the US over the three decades since the band began, politically, socially and culturally. Has the Black experience changed for the better in that time?

‘Of course things have changed for some people, but it hasn't changed for enough people. There's always change that is happening and there's always good things that are happening, and those good things do matter – they affect people in a good way, but there's still a lot more to do, especially on a larger scale.

‘Yes, there's been change, but yes, there's a lot more change that needs to come.’

With a few notable mainstream exceptions – Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino spring to mind – would Speech like to see more rappers comment directly on politics?

‘Music is supposed to reflect the times. Musicians are by nature more attuned with compassion and the progressive things that are going on in the world and in society. We're more in tune with these things than a lot of other people, and music is a lot more effective at reaching people than news or politics. Musicians should get involved – if it's their passion!’

As Public Enemy’s Chuck D famously said, ‘rap is black America's CNN’, right?

‘That's very true – look at NWA's F The Police, when that came out no one knew around the world how much police brutality was happening. Songs like Mr Wendal came out, no one was thinking about the plight of the homeless on a worldwide basis. These things really make a difference and they are the news for the world, especially rap at its best.’

He admits, it is getting more difficult to get your message out into the world with the desired impact.

‘It's much harder, and it's much more convoluted these days. The discovery of music is really tough, and the bottom line is that there's not as many music activists who have control over breaking music in their local market like there used to be.

‘Now you're trying to get on playlists or go viral for whatever reason on TikTok. It's a lot harder to do and more clickbait-oriented, so the things you have to do in order to go viral dilutes the message of what you're trying to accomplish in the first place.

‘That is an unfortunate truth about the internet age, you play the game and eat, or you don't play the game and you don't eat!’

However, with their last two albums Don’t Fight Your Demons and For the Fkn Love, there has been a renewed interest in the group. Now though, Speech is looking forward to coming back to the UK.

‘I absolutely love the UK and I love getting the chance to meet the fans over there, and the energy with the fans and our music is really something which has been fantastic throughout the whole 30 years of our careers.’

Arrested Development are at The Gaiety on South Parade Pier on Wednesday, May 24, doors 7.30pm. Tickets £30. Go to book.events/fieldevents.