Arrested Development's America is bigger than the inner-city

Speech, center, says the south got the Arrested Development message before the rest of the country.

Speech, center, says the south got the Arrested Development message before the rest of the country.

In 1992, when hip hop group Arrested Development hit the radio with the song "Tennessee" it proved that hip hop was being created outside of the inner-city:

"Past Dyesburg into Ripley/Where the ghost of childhood haunts me/Walk the roads my forefathers walked/Climbed the trees my forefathers hung from/Ask those trees for all their wisdom/They tell me my ears are so young/Go back to from whence you came/My family tree my family name/For some strange reason it had to be/He guided me to Tennessee ..."

The group was a mixture of male and female, young and old, but with an attitude of hope that has lasted for nearly 20 years.

"There's been some talk that we're just hippies and out of touch with reality and black life," says Speech (born Todd Williams) in a call from his office in Fayetteville, Ga. "I think that's a misconception. In the hip-hop world we've been known as soft, or not gritty. (Some people think) that our positivity is based on naivete instead of a conscious decision to look at the better side of what's going on and get people inspired rather than just get us depressed."

The group certainly made an impression at the outset.

The band's debut album "3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of ..." (named in honor of how long it was before the group was offered a record contract after they were initially contacted) contained three hit singles, "Tennessee," "Mr. Wendel" and "People Everyday" and earned the group a Grammy for Best New Artist. Arrested Development was also named Band of the Year by Rolling Stone and topped the Village Voice's Pazz and Jop Poll.

While the group never achieved the commercial success of that first album, Arrested Development has developed a solid following around the world who turn out for concerts. Recently, the group began it's own record label, Vagabond Records and Tapes, in order for the group to retain control of its music. The group hopes to release a new album late in the year and Speech will release his new disc "The Grown Up Table" in early summer.

Speech says he feels more creative and inspired than ever. Like many artists, he credits the election of Barack Obama as part of his positive attitude.

"(Election) night the red, white and blue resonated with me in a way it never had," says Speech. "It was the first time I felt a certain type of patriotism. I've always felt very American - especially when I go overseas. But, as a black American, I never felt like I could be president or any of my people could do certain things that whites could do. But after that night I felt like, 'OK, this country truly IS for me.' Not just to be a part of the fruits of, but to be a part of the decision making a part of the leadership."

It also might help change the narrow focus on African-Americans in general.

"We allow this vision of just one black artist to exist, one style of black music to exist, instead of allowing it be as broad as it really is in real life. Black people love rock 'n' roll. A lot of black people like punk. A lot of black people like alternative. A lot of black people enjoy blues still. A lot of black people don't wear jeans that slump down. A lot of them wear slacks. A lot are rural blacks who are farmers. But when you think 'black' you think inner-city. You think 'urban.' One of the things we're doing is broaden that perspective ... There's a lot of people out there. They don't just live in New York or L.A. or Miami or some of the coastal cities. America's a big place."

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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