Arrested Development

Concorde 2,

Madeira Drive, Brighton,

Monday, February 23

EVIL is how Arrested Development frontman Speech regards much of the hip-hop filling the airwaves at present.

When his Atlanta collective formed in 1988 it railed against the rise of gangsta rap – providing a more socially conscious alternative with songs like Mr Wendal, with its insight into the life of a “no-one” living on the street, and the 1992 UK top ten plea for brotherly love Everyday People.

But as he speaks to The Guide Speech feels just as frustrated as he did back then.

“If you listen to the subject matter it’s all about calling women bitches and ‘hos,” he says. “They’re saying there’s no way they would ever love them, they just want to have sex and leave.

“When the lyrics are literally about killing someone it’s not just wordplay – it’s popularising murder. We have lost our sensitivity to understand this is not cool. It’s a very dangerous concept.”

He feels hip-hop artists should be writing lyrics to make people think in positive ways – as he has done for more than 20 years both as a solo artist and as the leader of Arrested Development.

“It’s doing songs which are real to life and the sanctity of life,” he says. “Encouraging simple things like love, caring for somebody, concern for people who aren’t doing as well as you – the basics of humanity.

“I can rap about the homeless guy in front of me, who is a human being, or the teenage mother who is pregnant again, only 16 and scared. These are subjects artists should write about – although not every song has to be conscious, it could be about partying!”

A former supporter of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign, Speech fears for the state of his home nation today post-Ferguson – especially with an election on the way.

“The police are finding it okay to shoot unarmed people and say it was self-defence,” he says. “It’s even crazier that the court systems in the US don’t find it necessary to indict these people and allow a court case to be heard, especially after all that happened in the 1950s and 1960s.

“It always surprised me the level of childlike behaviour in politics – it reminds me of middle school. The thirst for power can take a mature person who has raised children and has responsibilities and revert them back to the sixth grade!

“Things are not progressing the way they should – we should be evolving and learning from each situation.”

Arrested Development’s first tour of the UK in many years isn’t just an exercise in nostalgia, although Speech promises fans of the band’s multi-platinum selling debut Three Years, Five Months And Two Days In The Life Of... won’t be left disappointed.

The band initially broke up in 1994 following the relative commercial failure of critically acclaimed second album Zingalamaduni. Since Arrested Development reconvened in 2000 they have produced a further six albums, plus seven credited to Speech solo.

“A lot of times there’s no real difference between Speech and Arrested Development,” says Speech, admitting a Speech song will sometimes turn into an Arrested Development record.

The reverse is true of what was billed to be the next Arrested Development album Splash.

“I wasn’t totally satisfied with it in retrospect,” admits Speech. “I’ve decided to give it some time – it probably won’t come out as an Arrested Development record but as a collaboration between myself and the producer Khao Cates, who has worked with TI and R Kelly. It has a different, interesting urban feel to it – I’m going to tweak it a little more.”

He’s also looking forward to releasing another collaboration he did in Japan with the Yoshida Brothers, under the title Konji.

“It’s a project which catapults me back into pop culture consciousness,” he says. “The record is so good, the songs are so well-written. It’s a collaboration I think people will really enjoy – I can’t wait for it to come out later this year!”