Arrested Development

Arrested Development, an American alternative hip hop group, was formed in 1988 in Atlanta, Georgia. The band was founded by rapper and producer Todd Thomas, known as Speech, and turntablist Timothy Barnwell, also known as Headliner. Arrested Development gained initial recognition with their debut album 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life of..., released on June 16, 1992. The album topped the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll and sold over six million copies globally. In 1993, Arrested Development became the first hip hop act to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and also received the award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Their follow-up album Zingalamaduni, released on June 14, 1994, did not achieve the same commercial success, leading to the group's disbandment in 1996. The band reunited in 2000 and has since continued to tour and release music independently through Speech’s label Vagabond Records & Tapes. Notable albums from their later career include Among the Trees (2004), Since the Last Time (2006), Strong (2010), and Standing at the Crossroads (2012). The group has addressed themes of racial justice, spirituality, and environmental issues in their music. Back in the studio and on the road in 2016, they recorded several other albums in the conscious hip-hop style, including Changing the Narrative (2016), This Was Never Home (2016), and Crafts & Optics (2018), released one week before the death of the band's "spiritual elder" Baba Oje, at 86 or 87. That same month, Speech released the solo album The Nigga Factory, before returning with Arrested Development for the subsequent albums Don't Fight Your Demons (2020) and For the FKN Love (2021), followed by the mixtape On the Cutting Room Floor (2023), Bullets in the Chamber (2024) and Adult Contemporary Hip-Hop (2025).

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