Speech Thomas, a member of the Grammy-winning group Arrested Development, sat down for an exclusive interview with BIN's Tyrik Wynn.
During the sitdown, Thomas shared details about the group's recently released double album, Bullets In the Chamber.
Listen now!
During the sitdown, Thomas shared details about the group's recently released double album, Bullets In the Chamber.
Listen now!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Guys, welcome. We have anamazing guest in the building. We got
the speech Thomas from the Hit musicgroup Arrested Development. Welcome man. How
you doing. I'm doing fantastic.I'm absolutely great. Awesome. Yeah,
man, you've been marketing on somestuff. That's very true. You're right.
We've been working a lot. Weactually just released a new album called
Bullets in the Chamber released and peoplehave given it just high praise and couple
(00:25):
very influential hip hop magazines. Igave it Album of the Year already,
which is dope. Love it.And for a group that's been doing this
for thirty two years, that meansa lot to us, it really does.
And so yeah, we've been busy. We're about to go on tour.
So yeah, that's awesome. Man. Congratu to you guys on everything
you're doing. So let's talk aboutthis album. So it's a double album.
You got Bullets in the Chamber andyou also got a single in there,
(00:47):
hip Hop Saves Lives. Yeah.So hip Hop Saves Lives is a
dream come true single for us becausefor probably two decades I've been wanting to
work with Chuck d from the groupPublic to me Hall of Fame. Hip
Hop Crew and Chuck and I havebeen friends for years, but we never
had a chance to actually do thistogether. So Hip Hop Saves Lives is
(01:10):
the track that made that dream cometrue. So not only that, we
actually are doing like basically a charityproject with the single, where we've made
T shirts with an organization called Beatsfor Hope, and we're donating the entire
amount from the T shirts goes tohelping young girls, teens and adults to
(01:34):
escape and to have safety from abusivesituations and violent situations, which happens more
in Atlanta than people might think.So we're really grateful that the music is
incredible, the collaboration, but alsothis opportunity to help, you know.
So it's been a great thing.Yeah, I love that, you know,
helping out where you can. That'sawesome. That speaks volume. It
(01:57):
does, and you know, tome, it's been something that our group
is believed in from you know,the early nineties and late eighties. But
to be able to like, Iactually went to one of the shelters where
these women you know, get togo to and it moved me to just
really want to do something. Andso people get a chance to wear a
dope T shirt, which they canget this on our website, Arrested Development
(02:21):
music dot com. They get achance to wear a dope T shirt and
at the same time, they're knowingthat one percent of what they paid for
that shirt goes to these helping womenand teens and that just makes everybody feel
good. Yeah, yeah, no, that's definitely so important. So I
got to ask you the reason wasthe reason for this because you know of
(02:42):
someone who was involved in a situationor something like that this Unfortunately I do,
not only do I know some personalpeople, but I've had a chance
to talk with those that are inthe anti sex trafficking work. So I've
had a chance to meet and haveconversations with people that are on a daily
(03:04):
basis on the front lines of helpingthose that have been unfortunately, you know,
trapped into this sex trafficking truth getout and then those that are trying
to prevent it from happening in thefirst place. So I don't know,
I just have a very close relationshipto what's going on in that space,
and so yeah, it's it's yeah, so it's meaningful to me in deep
(03:28):
ways. Yeah, No, Idefinitely applaud you for that, and you
know, of course, like Isaid, it's always great to help out
where you can, and it's goodthat you guys have took something so amazing
as this song and then you gotT shirts and then the T shirts proceeds
are going to help people exactly right, which to me matches with the point
of the song, hip hop Saveslives. You know, hip hop gets
a bad rap for some things,and some things it deserves to be critiqued,
(03:53):
but then there's other sides of itthat people don't talk about a lot.
And that's what I think that thissingle sort of high lights. Yeah,
No, I love that. Iwas actually gonna ask you about that
because there have been, like yousaid, and sometimes a hip hop hip
hop has received kind of like anegative connotation and stuff, and you're saying
hip hop saves lives. It isthe name of the song, and I
(04:14):
love you that you kind of tooka spin on it and stuff, and
so I was gonna ask you,like, why did you name it that
and how did you come up withthat? Sure, well, I think
mainly because the narrative had become sostrong that hip hop is a negative force
that I think there needed to bea counterbalance narrative, and groups like Arrested
Development have been proving, in myopinion that hip hop saves lives and it
(04:39):
is positive since nineteen ninety one whenwe first came out, and that's been
thirty two years, so, youknow, thirty three almost so and then
of course collaborating with Chuck D fromPublic Enemy, who also has saved so
many lives in the sense of thecontent that that group has put out over
the years. And I, Imust save from a personal standpoint, it
(05:01):
saved my life to an extent,you know, hearing music that's talking about
really prolific and profound issues. Itdoes help to widen your own worldview,
and it helps you to think aboutlife in a different way, you know.
And so yeah, I think thatall of those things made me really
(05:23):
convicted that hip hop hass saved livesand does save lives. Yeah, yeah,
man, hip hop is definitely savinglives. And I love that you
guys did this and you guys aredoing this stuff. So, speaking of
hip hop, we just celebrated fiftyyears of hip hop. Yeah, amazing,
fantastic. Tell me, what aresome things that you did to celebrate
(05:44):
the fifty years of hip Hop.That's a great question. I mean,
we had a chance to be partof the huge celebration that the Grammys organization
did. It aired in December oflast year. We recorded it and I
want to believe September November, andit was called the Grammy Salute to fifty
Years of Hip Hop. It wason CBS, one of the most incredible
(06:11):
hip hop celebrations on mainstream TV inthe history of hip hop myself, I
mean Arrested Development, talib Quality,Queen, Latifa, dey La Soul Common,
far Side, two Chains, acon chance to rapper. I mean,
so many artists that I'm it's it'simpossible to name all of them that
(06:35):
were on this this special and itwas just incredible. It was absolutely incredible,
produced by Questlove from the Roots,ll COOJ from Rock to Bells and
of course just legendary L cool J, Iconic L COOLJ, and also Fatima
Robinson who's an incredible dance choreographer andshow programming director and you know, she's
(06:59):
just it was a it's a greatteam of people that put it together to
that's what's up, man. Ilove that and so I know I know
that Dallas Austin and Jermaine Duprix.They were doing a lot of things like
the museums that do you check outthe museum, Oh, without a doubt.
That's another thing that that I didto celebrate the fifty years and not
to mention a whole worldwide tour,but I'll get to that in a minute.
Jermaine dupri and Dallas Austin created andstarted a museum right here in Atlanta
(07:24):
to represent the history of hip hopand we were a very big part of
that. Went to the opening night, absolutely amazing, you know, the
mayor was there. I mean,this was just it was just outrageous how
dope it was. And obviously somany artists from Atlanta literally have put a
stamp that will never be forgotten inthe hip hop space and right out of
(07:47):
here from Atlanta. So yeah,t I was there. I mean,
you name it. And then Imean we did we went out on the
field with the falcons and you know, did did all types of you know,
celebrate celebration types stuff with the falcons. I mean, so it's been
an amazing time. Yeah, Ilove that. Y'all remember actually seeing that.
I remember seeing all y'all social mediavideos at y'all jerseys exactly. We
(08:09):
all had jerseys, we all hadbling saying like it was Falcons bling and
like it was dope. It wasjust it was just, you know,
fun times, and it just madeyou realize that I'm grateful to grow up
in an era of life that hadsuch a powerful music form, a genre
be born out of nothing and endup taking over the world be the number
(08:31):
one genre in the entire music industry, including or excluding nobody, including everything
classic music to country to rock,all of which obviously have played a huge
role in music in the past.Hip hop surpassed all of them. So
yeah, yeah, definitely. Andthe big part about it is, like
you said, I think you saidthirty two or thirty three years, you
(08:52):
guys have been doing majority exactly.We've been in it for longer than we
haven't been in it, which isdope, you know. So yeah,
it's just an amazing time to live. I'm grateful for the time that I
was born because for me, Igot to see it start and I remember
the days when hip hop literally wasn'tbelieved in by anybody, and I literally
(09:15):
fell in love with it. Ibecame a disciple of hip hop in a
sense. And you know, fromthose days to now, I've just seen
it grow into this incredible monstrosity ofmusic. So yeah, it's just been
ridiculous. Oh yeah, good stuff, and it's saving lives, It saves
lots, right, Yeah, yeah, good stuff there man. So and
then talk to us about this tour. Yeah, so, Arrested Developments,
(09:37):
brand new album, fifty Years ofHip Hop. We're about to head upon
one hundred and sixty dates throughout theUnited States. First of all the United
States States. A lot of thoseare with the Roots, so the legendary
Roots Crew out of Philly, Questlove, Black Thought Us and Diggable Planets,
who was also an amazing group,so all three of us are doing shows
(10:01):
together. We're doing one show atthe Hollywood Bowl which has Diggable Planets or
Rested Development, but also on thatlineup is the Far Side the Roots,
Queen Latifa, So that's gonna beliterally a show out of heaven to me
for hip hop heads. And thenof course we have our own shows and
tours that we're doing, which wedid Europe and UK and Japan and Dubai
(10:24):
last year. We're doing it allover again this year. Last year it
sold out. These tickets are sellingout. So it's just been a time
for rested development to just resurface ina way that you know, the people
are celebrating what we contribute. Ilove that, man, that is fantastic.
And then you're going internationally and you'regetting sold out tours, yeah,
killing it. Well it's funny becauseyeah, thank you, I appreciate it.
(10:46):
I'm really grateful to the fans becausethey believe in us. They have
stamped us as a group. Thatmeant and means a lot to them.
And so yeah, when we goover to like places like Australia for just
which we're going to and went tolast year and going again New Zealand,
you know, Europe meaning Germany,France, Spain, you know, and
(11:09):
of course all throughout the UK,Africa, you know, did South Africa
and doing it again. So likeall of these places just embrace us,
and they've they felt like arrested developmentsmusic has been a lot and you know,
we love them too, so it'svery very cool. Yeah, that's
that's great man. And you saidthen you say y'all went to Dubai tou.
Yeah, we went to Abu Dhabiin particular last year. This year
(11:31):
we'll be going to do to Dubaiand we love going to the Middle East.
You know, obviously it's a lotof turbulence, a lot of things
that are going on historically in presentday in these areas, and we still
get a chance to go, andit's important for us to go for you
know, just being able to showpeople entertainment again and just and and move
(11:52):
people with the messages. So yeah, that's great, man, Yeah,
I know. And then I alwayswanted to know, like, what is
it like being out there on tourand stuff like? I feel like y'all
get no sleep when y'all be onthe tours and stuff lying and you know,
taking the bus and all taking thebus around and stuff like that.
What it being on tour like?Isn't that tiring? What is the tour
(12:16):
life like like? Kind of giveus an insight for me personally, bro,
it is some of the best timesin life because when I'm at home,
which home is Atlanta for me,So you got friends, family,
realities that are always coming at youwhen you're at home because you're right there
local with the people that you love. But when you're on the road,
(12:37):
it all simplifies. So sure,you're going from city to city night after
night, but the difference is,and the reason it's peaceful for me,
is that you have one duty andone duty only. You know. All
the other people can't say, hey, can I come over and do this?
Or can you come by and help? That's not an option because you're
gone. So when you're on tour, your main duty, your main point
(13:01):
is to rock that show, whatevernight that is, you know what I
mean. And it might be ashow that starts at two am. You
know, it might be a showthat starts two am, you know what
I'm saying. But other than soundcheckand interviews, the rest of that day
is yours and you just got tofocus on rocking that show, and that,
to me is the beauty of theroad. We also take tour buses,
(13:22):
so for us, you know,you have a home away from home.
On a tour bus has a bed, it has lounges, We're watching
what we want to watch on TV. We're sleeping throughout the day, so
it's sort of a different schedule,but it's beautiful. And then to top
it off, at the night timeand when the show happens, it's like
a romance, you know, whenyou're when you're in that venue with the
(13:45):
fans that love what you've contributed,it's a romance like they've been waiting to
see you, You've been waiting tosee them, and now it's finally happened.
And it's like those scenes of movieswhere you know, a man and
a woman is lovers and they're likerunning and emotion to meet each other in
the middle and kiss or something.It's like that for a show, you
know. It's like, especially whenit's sold out and when the energy is
(14:07):
really high, it's like, Yo, y'all been waiting for this. You've
been waiting for this to happen,and it's like we've been waiting to see
y'all. Y'all been waiting to seeus. Let's do this, and yeah,
it's magical. Yeah. I feellike fans. Fans always want two
things. They want a tour andthey always want new music. Exactly right,
that's right, And we got both. Yeah, we got both of
that. Yeah, Bullets in theChamber album and this this brand new tour.
(14:28):
So yeah, yeah, that's what'sI want to act. Like,
one thing I've been noticing about thishere seemed like all of y'all going on
tour, that's true. Like ally'all celebrity artists is going on tour.
That's very true. And especially likeartists that are over fifty and forty five
and like, because the truth is, there's been a resurgence of appreciation for
(14:50):
what we did in the nineties throughoutall generations. Like even young kids that
are like thirteen fourteen come out tothe shows that they can come to,
and then people that's in the twentiesand thirties want to come out because for
them, they never either they wereyoung kids when we all came out,
or they never got a chance toreally immerse themselves in this kind of era
(15:11):
of hip hop, you know whatI mean. So there's a lot of
people that love it. And thenof course the people that are over forty
and stuff like that, they're allthere just because that's the music they grew
up with and they love it,and you know, so it's it's it's
a missmash of energies and I loveit. I love that, you know.
Yeah, it's really dope. Andwe'll even here in Atlanta, we'll
be doing Chastaint Park with the Roots. Nice. I think that when is
(15:35):
that show? I want to saythat's in August or June or July.
I forget, but it's on ourwebsite, a you know, Arrested Development
Music dot Com. But then we'llalso do a show in the city where
I live personally, called Fayettville,which is on the south side of Atlanta.
I live at studios. Your studios, Yeah, is it like a
recording studio like music or a productionpodcast studio? Word? Is it in
(15:58):
Trilith or where is it at?It literally a few minutes. I'm like
right in the square, so likedowntown. Oh, world up, I
gotta visit your studio, support you. But I'm in Fayeteville. So we're
Arrested Development for the first time everis doing a show in Fayetteville, and
I'm so excited about that. Fayanevilleis not even a big town, but
(16:18):
it's a beautiful venue. It's calledthe Hill and and uh, it's just
I've gone to see you know,Ziggie Marley and whoever at this venue.
And I've always wanted to do thisvenue. We've been talking about doing it,
and our schedules never matched up.And so this year, for the
first time in September, we'll bedoing a show at the Fayetteville what's called
(16:41):
the Ville, which is a reallynice venue right there in Fayetvilleitheater. It's
the Amphitheater. So we're headin thatme too, because it's home for me,
Like, this is where I thisis where I hang out, this
is where I do stuff. Andyet yeah, we're gonna we're gonna be
doing a show right up the street. And that's to us who travels around
the world. This is this isvery meaningful, meaningful for us. That
(17:03):
is fantastic. I like that,You're like, because you know, a
lot of people can say, oh, I'm doing it at home, and
you just be doing it in Georgia, doing it Atlanta, but you're doing
it at home home. Yeah,we're doing it right, like literally roll
out of bed and go to thevenue. The type of thing which is
very unique for us. And Ilove that. Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, good good, good stuffthere. Man. So tell me
I know recently you actually were thenyou get an award as the capital or
(17:27):
something like that. Yes, Idid, very very honored. You know.
Georgia has meant a lot to me. It's the place where arrested development
started. I was born in Milwaukee, but it's where I've had my children
as well as where I met mywife, and it's where the group that
catapulted me into the dreams of myyouth. It happened right here in Georgia.
(17:49):
And so Georgia ended up giving mean honor of giving me an award.
I guess that was two months agoat the capital and I had never
been in the Capitol building. Irun, I've been here for thirty I
don't know, thirty seven years orso, and I never went to the
Capitol building. And so it wasjust an honor to be amongst these elected
(18:14):
officials and the people who came tosupport me, and to actually, yeah,
it was it was very very special, very special. Yeah, that's
that's awesome, man, Especially likewhen you you're doing great things in the
community and then when you get honoredfor that, it got to be a
good feeling, right, It isa great feeling. And you know,
I said this to the new channelsthat were there that day. I never
(18:37):
do the things that I do forthese kind of honors or awards, but
the fact that I'm doing them anyway, and then to get that recognition It's
the kind of things that for me, when I retire, I'll be hanging
on my wall and I'll look backto be able to just sort of realize
what I put my energy into forforty years or whatever as I do this
(19:00):
professionally before I retire. You know, it's just an amazing It's an amazing
part of life. And it's acherry on top. Oh yeah, you
don't have a trophy case full,man, I can see. Yeah,
exactly, you know what I mean. I already got something now. So
that's a blessing, bro. FeelI've been told you are the man,
like an ambitious young man doing yourthings. So I'm proud of you,
(19:21):
I really am. That's awesome.So just to close it out, tell
us exactly when does has it toalready started or when does it tour start?
We start our first date this Saturdayin Texas. Let's see your Waco
Waco text. I've actually heard ofWaco. Yeah, Waco is where we
start off. We are starting offwith Big Boy from Outcast and z Trip,
(19:47):
the DJ that spins for many many, many famous people and of course
himself and arrested Development. It's goingto be an incredible lineup. We're looking
forward to this. We've been rehearsingnot only for this first show before our
for the last two weeks and we'reexcited, you know nice. So fans
and fans can head over to thewebsite to get tickets right Arresteddevelopment Music dot
Com. We'll have the tickets notonly for the Waco, Texas shows,
(20:11):
but all the shows that I'm mentioning. Just scroll down, pick the city
you want and come see us perform. And that's including our overseas shows.
We have vinyl records that will beat these shows as well T shirts as
I talked about, the hip HopSaves Lives t shirt, the Arrested Development
t shirts and swag. And thenwe also have even some CDs for those
that love CDs, and of coursethe music and the live and by the
(20:33):
way, we're an eight piece band, so I mean, you know,
when people think of Arrested Development,they think of the classics, but we
actually come with drums, you know, keys, guitars, bass. I
mean, this is a full bandsituation. Yeah, it's not just turntables
and a mic. Although I loveturntables and a mic, that's not what
we do. We come full youknow, full band, full power.
I like that. Y'all make music. We make music, bro. It's
(20:57):
totally you know. It's a mixtureof what's the best about hip hop and
what's the best about just music ingeneral. And we mixed those two things.
We got the scratching and the DJand and sampling, but we got
live band as well, and wetake it there. That's fantastic, man.
So what city are you most excitedabout? I would say it's Feyanville
(21:18):
because it's home for me, youknow. And well in one other city
is Charleston, South Carolina. Mywife is a Charleston woman. She's from
a tribe called the Gulla, theGeechee culture, which is a very important
tribe for black people in America.They're the one culture that when we were
brought here hundreds of years ago duringslavery, they were able to maintain African
(21:41):
culture in a way that most Africanswere not able to do. They maintained
a lot of African culture and theirspirits, and their culture has been historically
beautiful. You could find most ofthem in the Hilton Head, Savannah area
of Georgia. We're going to Charleston, which is all so where they're at
and we're gonna rock there. Mywife's from there, so it's gonna be
(22:03):
a very beautiful show for us.I'm looking forward to those two cities this
year, yeah, man, Favvilleand Charleston. Oh yeah, good stuff.
Charleston is such a beautiful city too, incredible city, historical cities,
beautiful beaches. Yeah, exactly.Yeah, So I'm looking I mean,
it's gonna be ridiculous for us because, like I said, my my wife's
(22:23):
from the Geechee Gullah culture and they'reall coming out then her whole family's coming
out, the whole trick. Soyeah, and it's beautiful people and it's
yeah, it's gonna be very special. Good stuff. Man, Well that's
that's fantastic. And then where goahead? Let everybody know where they can
listen to the music too. Ourmusic is on every streaming platform. If
(22:45):
you've never heard of band camp,we love band camp. It's another streaming
platform, but you can buy themusic there. And out of all the
platforms that exist, if someone decidesto buy T shirts or records, a
bigger percentage goes to the artist onthis platform called band camp. Band meaning
B A N D. Camp andso we love when people support us there,
(23:07):
but we're on all streaming platforms arresteddevelopment. The new album is Bullets
in the Chamber, and we're veryproud of this music. It's beautiful.
A lot of guests on this album, from Chuck d who I mentioned earlier,
to Diana King, to Raz Castto you know, Cannabis. A
lot of really really legendary artists areon this record with us. Yeah,
man, y'all. I was lookingat the list, I was like,
(23:29):
Wow, I like how they includeda lot of people. We really did.
I mean, we really did.And these are people that you know,
have proven themselves in this in thisgenre, and you know, we're
just grateful that they even considered us, you know, an opportunity to do
this with them. Yeah. Sure, man, I appreciate you so much
for coming in talking with me.Yeah, man, thank you for having
me. Yeah yeah, definitely talkingto us about everything you guys got going
(23:52):
on. Congratulations on the new album, the award, upcoming tour that's gonna
be fire, I already know,and I'm a have to see what make
that fan bill show? Yes,September, I want to say September fourteenth,
but it may be wrong about that, but it's definitely in September in
Fayetteville. And I want to shoutone more thing out if you don't mind.
I have a podcast that comes outnext month is called track Change,
(24:18):
and it's a very important podcast tome. It will be coming out on
NPR, and the reason I'm excitedabout it is I go into a jail
and I work with what they callus inmates, and I do music with
them and we talk about it onthis podcast. Very important podcast. The
incarceration rate in the United States isthe highest of any other place on the
(24:42):
planet. So there's a lot offamilies that are affected by those that have
been incarcerated, and there's a lotof people affected, and especially black people
in this nation. So this documentary, or I should say this podcast,
is just a special piece of workthat I've been working on and I'm looking
forward for people to check it out. Wow. That is different. Yeah,
(25:06):
I like that. So you're goingin the jails and working with them
on music exactly, working with thesemen and women on music, and so
many people feel like these people are, you know, just locked away and
sort of useless. And of courseyou'll see by listening to this podcast that
there there anything but that and prolificartists, great music and a lot of
(25:27):
stories to tell. Yeah, AndI always say, like, you know,
because I've watched a lot of themshows and stuff. But yeah,
I realize a lot of the peoplein there there are really talented. Facts.
They just did they just happened tojust fall on the wrong side and
fall on the wrong side of thetracks. And so that's why we call
it track change. Yeah. Areyou creative? Man? Come on man?
(25:48):
Yeah, man, I love yourcreativity. Thank you, And of
course, of course you put itinto your music and everything else that you
do. But yeah, definitely verymuch. We appreciate it being such a
creative individual. Yeah, facts,yeah, man. So and then where
can people what podcast platforms is thatgonna be on? It'll be on NPR,
and then of course on all ofyour various podcasts wherever you listen to
podcasts, you'll be able to getit as well. Okay, awesome man.
(26:10):
Well, yeah, like I said, thank you so much for coming
in talking to us. Thank you. Yeah, guys, make sure you
go check out the music, andhey, they're gonna be on tour.
So if you guys are coming toa city near you. Make sure you
got to check out Arrested Development becauseit's gonna be hot. I can see
it literally is amazing. People aregoing to be floored. We're coming with
full, full, full power.Fantastic man. So yeah, make sure
(26:32):
you guys go check that out andsupport the T shirts going to a good
calls. Go ahead and give thatT shirt hip Hop Saves Live t shirt
and you can go to Arrested Developmentmusic dot com and just click on it's
right on the front page of ourwebsite. Click on that. If you
want to get the T shirt,sweatshirts, hoodies, you can get any
one of those. It's very affordable, and yet all of the proceeds,
(26:53):
not one pity goes to us asa group. It all goes to helping
teens and young women have refuge fromviolent situations. So good deal, man.
Yeah, kudos to you guys onthat. Guys, thank y'all so
much for tuning in and listening.This has been the Black Information Network on
your home for twenty four to sevennews. I'm Tyrequin, got you guys.
Next time,
Guys, welcome. We have anamazing guest in the building. We got
the speech Thomas from the Hit musicgroup Arrested Development. Welcome man. How
you doing. I'm doing fantastic.I'm absolutely great. Awesome. Yeah,
man, you've been marketing on somestuff. That's very true. You're right.
We've been working a lot. Weactually just released a new album called
Bullets in the Chamber released and peoplehave given it just high praise and couple
(00:25):
very influential hip hop magazines. Igave it Album of the Year already,
which is dope. Love it.And for a group that's been doing this
for thirty two years, that meansa lot to us, it really does.
And so yeah, we've been busy. We're about to go on tour.
So yeah, that's awesome. Man. Congratu to you guys on everything
you're doing. So let's talk aboutthis album. So it's a double album.
You got Bullets in the Chamber andyou also got a single in there,
(00:47):
hip Hop Saves Lives. Yeah.So hip Hop Saves Lives is a
dream come true single for us becausefor probably two decades I've been wanting to
work with Chuck d from the groupPublic to me Hall of Fame. Hip
Hop Crew and Chuck and I havebeen friends for years, but we never
had a chance to actually do thistogether. So Hip Hop Saves Lives is
(01:10):
the track that made that dream cometrue. So not only that, we
actually are doing like basically a charityproject with the single, where we've made
T shirts with an organization called Beatsfor Hope, and we're donating the entire
amount from the T shirts goes tohelping young girls, teens and adults to
(01:34):
escape and to have safety from abusivesituations and violent situations, which happens more
in Atlanta than people might think.So we're really grateful that the music is
incredible, the collaboration, but alsothis opportunity to help, you know.
So it's been a great thing.Yeah, I love that, you know,
helping out where you can. That'sawesome. That speaks volume. It
(01:57):
does, and you know, tome, it's been something that our group
is believed in from you know,the early nineties and late eighties. But
to be able to like, Iactually went to one of the shelters where
these women you know, get togo to and it moved me to just
really want to do something. Andso people get a chance to wear a
dope T shirt, which they canget this on our website, Arrested Development
(02:21):
music dot com. They get achance to wear a dope T shirt and
at the same time, they're knowingthat one percent of what they paid for
that shirt goes to these helping womenand teens and that just makes everybody feel
good. Yeah, yeah, no, that's definitely so important. So I
got to ask you the reason wasthe reason for this because you know of
(02:42):
someone who was involved in a situationor something like that this Unfortunately I do,
not only do I know some personalpeople, but I've had a chance
to talk with those that are inthe anti sex trafficking work. So I've
had a chance to meet and haveconversations with people that are on a daily
(03:04):
basis on the front lines of helpingthose that have been unfortunately, you know,
trapped into this sex trafficking truth getout and then those that are trying
to prevent it from happening in thefirst place. So I don't know,
I just have a very close relationshipto what's going on in that space,
and so yeah, it's it's yeah, so it's meaningful to me in deep
(03:28):
ways. Yeah, No, Idefinitely applaud you for that, and you
know, of course, like Isaid, it's always great to help out
where you can, and it's goodthat you guys have took something so amazing
as this song and then you gotT shirts and then the T shirts proceeds
are going to help people exactly right, which to me matches with the point
of the song, hip hop Saveslives. You know, hip hop gets
a bad rap for some things,and some things it deserves to be critiqued,
(03:53):
but then there's other sides of itthat people don't talk about a lot.
And that's what I think that thissingle sort of high lights. Yeah,
No, I love that. Iwas actually gonna ask you about that
because there have been, like yousaid, and sometimes a hip hop hip
hop has received kind of like anegative connotation and stuff, and you're saying
hip hop saves lives. It isthe name of the song, and I
(04:14):
love you that you kind of tooka spin on it and stuff, and
so I was gonna ask you,like, why did you name it that
and how did you come up withthat? Sure, well, I think
mainly because the narrative had become sostrong that hip hop is a negative force
that I think there needed to bea counterbalance narrative, and groups like Arrested
Development have been proving, in myopinion that hip hop saves lives and it
(04:39):
is positive since nineteen ninety one whenwe first came out, and that's been
thirty two years, so, youknow, thirty three almost so and then
of course collaborating with Chuck D fromPublic Enemy, who also has saved so
many lives in the sense of thecontent that that group has put out over
the years. And I, Imust save from a personal standpoint, it
(05:01):
saved my life to an extent,you know, hearing music that's talking about
really prolific and profound issues. Itdoes help to widen your own worldview,
and it helps you to think aboutlife in a different way, you know.
And so yeah, I think thatall of those things made me really
(05:23):
convicted that hip hop hass saved livesand does save lives. Yeah, yeah,
man, hip hop is definitely savinglives. And I love that you
guys did this and you guys aredoing this stuff. So, speaking of
hip hop, we just celebrated fiftyyears of hip hop. Yeah, amazing,
fantastic. Tell me, what aresome things that you did to celebrate
(05:44):
the fifty years of hip Hop.That's a great question. I mean,
we had a chance to be partof the huge celebration that the Grammys organization
did. It aired in December oflast year. We recorded it and I
want to believe September November, andit was called the Grammy Salute to fifty
Years of Hip Hop. It wason CBS, one of the most incredible
(06:11):
hip hop celebrations on mainstream TV inthe history of hip hop myself, I
mean Arrested Development, talib Quality,Queen, Latifa, dey La Soul Common,
far Side, two Chains, acon chance to rapper. I mean,
so many artists that I'm it's it'simpossible to name all of them that
(06:35):
were on this this special and itwas just incredible. It was absolutely incredible,
produced by Questlove from the Roots,ll COOJ from Rock to Bells and
of course just legendary L cool J, Iconic L COOLJ, and also Fatima
Robinson who's an incredible dance choreographer andshow programming director and you know, she's
(06:59):
just it was a it's a greatteam of people that put it together to
that's what's up, man. Ilove that and so I know I know
that Dallas Austin and Jermaine Duprix.They were doing a lot of things like
the museums that do you check outthe museum, Oh, without a doubt.
That's another thing that that I didto celebrate the fifty years and not
to mention a whole worldwide tour,but I'll get to that in a minute.
Jermaine dupri and Dallas Austin created andstarted a museum right here in Atlanta
(07:24):
to represent the history of hip hopand we were a very big part of
that. Went to the opening night, absolutely amazing, you know, the
mayor was there. I mean,this was just it was just outrageous how
dope it was. And obviously somany artists from Atlanta literally have put a
stamp that will never be forgotten inthe hip hop space and right out of
(07:47):
here from Atlanta. So yeah,t I was there. I mean,
you name it. And then Imean we did we went out on the
field with the falcons and you know, did did all types of you know,
celebrate celebration types stuff with the falcons. I mean, so it's been
an amazing time. Yeah, Ilove that. Y'all remember actually seeing that.
I remember seeing all y'all social mediavideos at y'all jerseys exactly. We
(08:09):
all had jerseys, we all hadbling saying like it was Falcons bling and
like it was dope. It wasjust it was just, you know,
fun times, and it just madeyou realize that I'm grateful to grow up
in an era of life that hadsuch a powerful music form, a genre
be born out of nothing and endup taking over the world be the number
(08:31):
one genre in the entire music industry, including or excluding nobody, including everything
classic music to country to rock,all of which obviously have played a huge
role in music in the past.Hip hop surpassed all of them. So
yeah, yeah, definitely. Andthe big part about it is, like
you said, I think you saidthirty two or thirty three years, you
(08:52):
guys have been doing majority exactly.We've been in it for longer than we
haven't been in it, which isdope, you know. So yeah,
it's just an amazing time to live. I'm grateful for the time that I
was born because for me, Igot to see it start and I remember
the days when hip hop literally wasn'tbelieved in by anybody, and I literally
(09:15):
fell in love with it. Ibecame a disciple of hip hop in a
sense. And you know, fromthose days to now, I've just seen
it grow into this incredible monstrosity ofmusic. So yeah, it's just been
ridiculous. Oh yeah, good stuff, and it's saving lives, It saves
lots, right, Yeah, yeah, good stuff there man. So and
then talk to us about this tour. Yeah, so, Arrested Developments,
(09:37):
brand new album, fifty Years ofHip Hop. We're about to head upon
one hundred and sixty dates throughout theUnited States. First of all the United
States States. A lot of thoseare with the Roots, so the legendary
Roots Crew out of Philly, Questlove, Black Thought Us and Diggable Planets,
who was also an amazing group,so all three of us are doing shows
(10:01):
together. We're doing one show atthe Hollywood Bowl which has Diggable Planets or
Rested Development, but also on thatlineup is the Far Side the Roots,
Queen Latifa, So that's gonna beliterally a show out of heaven to me
for hip hop heads. And thenof course we have our own shows and
tours that we're doing, which wedid Europe and UK and Japan and Dubai
(10:24):
last year. We're doing it allover again this year. Last year it
sold out. These tickets are sellingout. So it's just been a time
for rested development to just resurface ina way that you know, the people
are celebrating what we contribute. Ilove that, man, that is fantastic.
And then you're going internationally and you'regetting sold out tours, yeah,
killing it. Well it's funny becauseyeah, thank you, I appreciate it.
(10:46):
I'm really grateful to the fans becausethey believe in us. They have
stamped us as a group. Thatmeant and means a lot to them.
And so yeah, when we goover to like places like Australia for just
which we're going to and went tolast year and going again New Zealand,
you know, Europe meaning Germany,France, Spain, you know, and
(11:09):
of course all throughout the UK,Africa, you know, did South Africa
and doing it again. So likeall of these places just embrace us,
and they've they felt like arrested developmentsmusic has been a lot and you know,
we love them too, so it'svery very cool. Yeah, that's
that's great man. And you saidthen you say y'all went to Dubai tou.
Yeah, we went to Abu Dhabiin particular last year. This year
(11:31):
we'll be going to do to Dubaiand we love going to the Middle East.
You know, obviously it's a lotof turbulence, a lot of things
that are going on historically in presentday in these areas, and we still
get a chance to go, andit's important for us to go for you
know, just being able to showpeople entertainment again and just and and move
(11:52):
people with the messages. So yeah, that's great, man, Yeah,
I know. And then I alwayswanted to know, like, what is
it like being out there on tourand stuff like? I feel like y'all
get no sleep when y'all be onthe tours and stuff lying and you know,
taking the bus and all taking thebus around and stuff like that.
What it being on tour like?Isn't that tiring? What is the tour
(12:16):
life like like? Kind of giveus an insight for me personally, bro,
it is some of the best timesin life because when I'm at home,
which home is Atlanta for me,So you got friends, family,
realities that are always coming at youwhen you're at home because you're right there
local with the people that you love. But when you're on the road,
(12:37):
it all simplifies. So sure,you're going from city to city night after
night, but the difference is,and the reason it's peaceful for me,
is that you have one duty andone duty only. You know. All
the other people can't say, hey, can I come over and do this?
Or can you come by and help? That's not an option because you're
gone. So when you're on tour, your main duty, your main point
(13:01):
is to rock that show, whatevernight that is, you know what I
mean. And it might be ashow that starts at two am. You
know, it might be a showthat starts two am, you know what
I'm saying. But other than soundcheckand interviews, the rest of that day
is yours and you just got tofocus on rocking that show, and that,
to me is the beauty of theroad. We also take tour buses,
(13:22):
so for us, you know,you have a home away from home.
On a tour bus has a bed, it has lounges, We're watching
what we want to watch on TV. We're sleeping throughout the day, so
it's sort of a different schedule,but it's beautiful. And then to top
it off, at the night timeand when the show happens, it's like
a romance, you know, whenyou're when you're in that venue with the
(13:45):
fans that love what you've contributed,it's a romance like they've been waiting to
see you, You've been waiting tosee them, and now it's finally happened.
And it's like those scenes of movieswhere you know, a man and
a woman is lovers and they're likerunning and emotion to meet each other in
the middle and kiss or something.It's like that for a show, you
know. It's like, especially whenit's sold out and when the energy is
(14:07):
really high, it's like, Yo, y'all been waiting for this. You've
been waiting for this to happen,and it's like we've been waiting to see
y'all. Y'all been waiting to seeus. Let's do this, and yeah,
it's magical. Yeah. I feellike fans. Fans always want two
things. They want a tour andthey always want new music. Exactly right,
that's right, And we got both. Yeah, we got both of
that. Yeah, Bullets in theChamber album and this this brand new tour.
(14:28):
So yeah, yeah, that's what'sI want to act. Like,
one thing I've been noticing about thishere seemed like all of y'all going on
tour, that's true. Like ally'all celebrity artists is going on tour.
That's very true. And especially likeartists that are over fifty and forty five
and like, because the truth is, there's been a resurgence of appreciation for
(14:50):
what we did in the nineties throughoutall generations. Like even young kids that
are like thirteen fourteen come out tothe shows that they can come to,
and then people that's in the twentiesand thirties want to come out because for
them, they never either they wereyoung kids when we all came out,
or they never got a chance toreally immerse themselves in this kind of era
(15:11):
of hip hop, you know whatI mean. So there's a lot of
people that love it. And thenof course the people that are over forty
and stuff like that, they're allthere just because that's the music they grew
up with and they love it,and you know, so it's it's it's
a missmash of energies and I loveit. I love that, you know.
Yeah, it's really dope. Andwe'll even here in Atlanta, we'll
be doing Chastaint Park with the Roots. Nice. I think that when is
(15:35):
that show? I want to saythat's in August or June or July.
I forget, but it's on ourwebsite, a you know, Arrested Development
Music dot Com. But then we'llalso do a show in the city where
I live personally, called Fayettville,which is on the south side of Atlanta.
I live at studios. Your studios, Yeah, is it like a
recording studio like music or a productionpodcast studio? Word? Is it in
(15:58):
Trilith or where is it at?It literally a few minutes. I'm like
right in the square, so likedowntown. Oh, world up, I
gotta visit your studio, support you. But I'm in Fayeteville. So we're
Arrested Development for the first time everis doing a show in Fayetteville, and
I'm so excited about that. Fayanevilleis not even a big town, but
(16:18):
it's a beautiful venue. It's calledthe Hill and and uh, it's just
I've gone to see you know,Ziggie Marley and whoever at this venue.
And I've always wanted to do thisvenue. We've been talking about doing it,
and our schedules never matched up.And so this year, for the
first time in September, we'll bedoing a show at the Fayetteville what's called
(16:41):
the Ville, which is a reallynice venue right there in Fayetvilleitheater. It's
the Amphitheater. So we're headin thatme too, because it's home for me,
Like, this is where I thisis where I hang out, this
is where I do stuff. Andyet yeah, we're gonna we're gonna be
doing a show right up the street. And that's to us who travels around
the world. This is this isvery meaningful, meaningful for us. That
(17:03):
is fantastic. I like that,You're like, because you know, a
lot of people can say, oh, I'm doing it at home, and
you just be doing it in Georgia, doing it Atlanta, but you're doing
it at home home. Yeah,we're doing it right, like literally roll
out of bed and go to thevenue. The type of thing which is
very unique for us. And Ilove that. Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, good good, good stuffthere. Man. So tell me
I know recently you actually were thenyou get an award as the capital or
(17:27):
something like that. Yes, Idid, very very honored. You know.
Georgia has meant a lot to me. It's the place where arrested development
started. I was born in Milwaukee, but it's where I've had my children
as well as where I met mywife, and it's where the group that
catapulted me into the dreams of myyouth. It happened right here in Georgia.
(17:49):
And so Georgia ended up giving mean honor of giving me an award.
I guess that was two months agoat the capital and I had never
been in the Capitol building. Irun, I've been here for thirty I
don't know, thirty seven years orso, and I never went to the
Capitol building. And so it wasjust an honor to be amongst these elected
(18:14):
officials and the people who came tosupport me, and to actually, yeah,
it was it was very very special, very special. Yeah, that's
that's awesome, man, Especially likewhen you you're doing great things in the
community and then when you get honoredfor that, it got to be a
good feeling, right, It isa great feeling. And you know,
I said this to the new channelsthat were there that day. I never
(18:37):
do the things that I do forthese kind of honors or awards, but
the fact that I'm doing them anyway, and then to get that recognition It's
the kind of things that for me, when I retire, I'll be hanging
on my wall and I'll look backto be able to just sort of realize
what I put my energy into forforty years or whatever as I do this
(19:00):
professionally before I retire. You know, it's just an amazing It's an amazing
part of life. And it's acherry on top. Oh yeah, you
don't have a trophy case full,man, I can see. Yeah,
exactly, you know what I mean. I already got something now. So
that's a blessing, bro. FeelI've been told you are the man,
like an ambitious young man doing yourthings. So I'm proud of you,
(19:21):
I really am. That's awesome.So just to close it out, tell
us exactly when does has it toalready started or when does it tour start?
We start our first date this Saturdayin Texas. Let's see your Waco
Waco text. I've actually heard ofWaco. Yeah, Waco is where we
start off. We are starting offwith Big Boy from Outcast and z Trip,
(19:47):
the DJ that spins for many many, many famous people and of course
himself and arrested Development. It's goingto be an incredible lineup. We're looking
forward to this. We've been rehearsingnot only for this first show before our
for the last two weeks and we'reexcited, you know nice. So fans
and fans can head over to thewebsite to get tickets right Arresteddevelopment Music dot
Com. We'll have the tickets notonly for the Waco, Texas shows,
(20:11):
but all the shows that I'm mentioning. Just scroll down, pick the city
you want and come see us perform. And that's including our overseas shows.
We have vinyl records that will beat these shows as well T shirts as
I talked about, the hip HopSaves Lives t shirt, the Arrested Development
t shirts and swag. And thenwe also have even some CDs for those
that love CDs, and of coursethe music and the live and by the
(20:33):
way, we're an eight piece band, so I mean, you know,
when people think of Arrested Development,they think of the classics, but we
actually come with drums, you know, keys, guitars, bass. I
mean, this is a full bandsituation. Yeah, it's not just turntables
and a mic. Although I loveturntables and a mic, that's not what
we do. We come full youknow, full band, full power.
I like that. Y'all make music. We make music, bro. It's
(20:57):
totally you know. It's a mixtureof what's the best about hip hop and
what's the best about just music ingeneral. And we mixed those two things.
We got the scratching and the DJand and sampling, but we got
live band as well, and wetake it there. That's fantastic, man.
So what city are you most excitedabout? I would say it's Feyanville
(21:18):
because it's home for me, youknow. And well in one other city
is Charleston, South Carolina. Mywife is a Charleston woman. She's from
a tribe called the Gulla, theGeechee culture, which is a very important
tribe for black people in America.They're the one culture that when we were
brought here hundreds of years ago duringslavery, they were able to maintain African
(21:41):
culture in a way that most Africanswere not able to do. They maintained
a lot of African culture and theirspirits, and their culture has been historically
beautiful. You could find most ofthem in the Hilton Head, Savannah area
of Georgia. We're going to Charleston, which is all so where they're at
and we're gonna rock there. Mywife's from there, so it's gonna be
(22:03):
a very beautiful show for us.I'm looking forward to those two cities this
year, yeah, man, Favvilleand Charleston. Oh yeah, good stuff.
Charleston is such a beautiful city too, incredible city, historical cities,
beautiful beaches. Yeah, exactly.Yeah, So I'm looking I mean,
it's gonna be ridiculous for us because, like I said, my my wife's
(22:23):
from the Geechee Gullah culture and they'reall coming out then her whole family's coming
out, the whole trick. Soyeah, and it's beautiful people and it's
yeah, it's gonna be very special. Good stuff. Man, Well that's
that's fantastic. And then where goahead? Let everybody know where they can
listen to the music too. Ourmusic is on every streaming platform. If
(22:45):
you've never heard of band camp,we love band camp. It's another streaming
platform, but you can buy themusic there. And out of all the
platforms that exist, if someone decidesto buy T shirts or records, a
bigger percentage goes to the artist onthis platform called band camp. Band meaning
B A N D. Camp andso we love when people support us there,
(23:07):
but we're on all streaming platforms arresteddevelopment. The new album is Bullets
in the Chamber, and we're veryproud of this music. It's beautiful.
A lot of guests on this album, from Chuck d who I mentioned earlier,
to Diana King, to Raz Castto you know, Cannabis. A
lot of really really legendary artists areon this record with us. Yeah,
man, y'all. I was lookingat the list, I was like,
(23:29):
Wow, I like how they includeda lot of people. We really did.
I mean, we really did.And these are people that you know,
have proven themselves in this in thisgenre, and you know, we're
just grateful that they even considered us, you know, an opportunity to do
this with them. Yeah. Sure, man, I appreciate you so much
for coming in talking with me.Yeah, man, thank you for having
me. Yeah yeah, definitely talkingto us about everything you guys got going
(23:52):
on. Congratulations on the new album, the award, upcoming tour that's gonna
be fire, I already know,and I'm a have to see what make
that fan bill show? Yes,September, I want to say September fourteenth,
but it may be wrong about that, but it's definitely in September in
Fayetteville. And I want to shoutone more thing out if you don't mind.
I have a podcast that comes outnext month is called track Change,
(24:18):
and it's a very important podcast tome. It will be coming out on
NPR, and the reason I'm excitedabout it is I go into a jail
and I work with what they callus inmates, and I do music with
them and we talk about it onthis podcast. Very important podcast. The
incarceration rate in the United States isthe highest of any other place on the
(24:42):
planet. So there's a lot offamilies that are affected by those that have
been incarcerated, and there's a lotof people affected, and especially black people
in this nation. So this documentary, or I should say this podcast,
is just a special piece of workthat I've been working on and I'm looking
forward for people to check it out. Wow. That is different. Yeah,
(25:06):
I like that. So you're goingin the jails and working with them
on music exactly, working with thesemen and women on music, and so
many people feel like these people are, you know, just locked away and
sort of useless. And of courseyou'll see by listening to this podcast that
there there anything but that and prolificartists, great music and a lot of
(25:27):
stories to tell. Yeah, AndI always say, like, you know,
because I've watched a lot of themshows and stuff. But yeah,
I realize a lot of the peoplein there there are really talented. Facts.
They just did they just happened tojust fall on the wrong side and
fall on the wrong side of thetracks. And so that's why we call
it track change. Yeah. Areyou creative? Man? Come on man?
(25:48):
Yeah, man, I love yourcreativity. Thank you, And of
course, of course you put itinto your music and everything else that you
do. But yeah, definitely verymuch. We appreciate it being such a
creative individual. Yeah, facts,yeah, man. So and then where
can people what podcast platforms is thatgonna be on? It'll be on NPR,
and then of course on all ofyour various podcasts wherever you listen to
podcasts, you'll be able to getit as well. Okay, awesome man.
(26:10):
Well, yeah, like I said, thank you so much for coming
in talking to us. Thank you. Yeah, guys, make sure you
go check out the music, andhey, they're gonna be on tour.
So if you guys are coming toa city near you. Make sure you
got to check out Arrested Development becauseit's gonna be hot. I can see
it literally is amazing. People aregoing to be floored. We're coming with
full, full, full power.Fantastic man. So yeah, make sure
(26:32):
you guys go check that out andsupport the T shirts going to a good
calls. Go ahead and give thatT shirt hip Hop Saves Live t shirt
and you can go to Arrested Developmentmusic dot com and just click on it's
right on the front page of ourwebsite. Click on that. If you
want to get the T shirt,sweatshirts, hoodies, you can get any
one of those. It's very affordable, and yet all of the proceeds,
(26:53):
not one pity goes to us asa group. It all goes to helping
teens and young women have refuge fromviolent situations. So good deal, man.
Yeah, kudos to you guys onthat. Guys, thank y'all so
much for tuning in and listening.This has been the Black Information Network on
your home for twenty four to sevennews. I'm Tyrequin, got you guys.
Next time,
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