It’s amazing how time and distance can impact how you interact with music. For instance, for YEARS, I thought Arrested Development’s sophomore album, Zingalamaduni, was the most criminally slept-on album EVER. I just didn’t understand why everybody else didn’t hear what I heard both musically and foundationally and exalt this group for being the uplifting Black, HBCU-version of hip-hop that I saw them as.

Turns out, most folks probably did hear what I heard (if they listened at all, Arrested Development is—was—definitely an acquired taste), except they actually listened and decided that they, and Speech, in particular, were too preachy and self-righteous. And that’s probably true, even listening to their debut album 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days In The Life Of… recently made me realize that I was being judged for the vast majority of the album. In the early ’90s, though? I loved Arrested Development. And, in particular, their best song, “Tennessee,” their chart-topping, Grammy Award-winning song about going home.

READ ON AT THE GRIO