A new rap group has hit the music stores and Billboard charts. Their name is Arrested Development. They are black Southerners of all ages, but their songs deal with issues important to all peoples. And, like other rap acts, the members have "other" names, though it is unclear whether their names are real or fake. The AD family is comprised of Speech, Headliner, Aerle Taree, Montsho Eshe, Rasa Don, and Baba Oje.

The first song I heard of theirs on the radio was "Tennessee" which is about someone who dreams he retraces his forefather's footsteps toward some promised land, that of Tennessee.

Each song deals with some aspect of life that should be changed, or at least brought to light. "Mr. Wendel" talks about someone who gives money and food to a bum on the street and learns a lot from the bum, but still doesn't listen to his words. In "Fishin' 4 Religion," the singer blames the Baptist churches for failing "to nurture brothers and sisters in the revolution."

In "People Everyday," Speech (the writer and main vocalist) is sitting on a park bench with a girlfriend when a mob of gangsters start harassing them for no apparent reason. The song deals mainly with race relations and fights.

The album's title "3 years, 5 months, & 2 days in the life of" refers to the amount of time it took for the group to write, sing, and produce the album.

Arrested Development is here to stay, so go out and buy their album. They do not sing like Northern black rappers like Ice Cube and Ice T; their music sounds more like a cross between rap, reggae, and soul-funk. n