Don't Fight Your Demons CD and Vinyl Available to Order

Hey, it's the news we've been waiting for! Vinyl and CD versions of Don't Fight Your Demons are available for pre-order on Bandcamp...now! The CDs are set to ship out around November 20th and the double Vinyl LPs around January 22nd.

Nice Review for Onya

The Hype Magazine gave a brief but nice review of the new Arrested Development single "Onya." You can read it here. 

While you're at it, check out their recent podcast featuring Speech, and a nice article/interview from 2016 with AD member Tasha LaRae!

Onya Now For Sale

"Onya," the new one-off single from Arrested Development, is now for sale. You can pick it up at Bandcamp here. Or, if you prefer, stream wherever it is you stream so long as you don't cross the streams...

New Arrested Development Single "Onya"

 Wake up, wake up, wake up, it's the first of the month! (And also the first day of the end of daylight savings time in most of the United States, a dreadful, awful time.) But here to help power us through that we have an item on Tidal, soon to be joined by other streaming platforms, and that item is the new Arrested Development "standalone" single "Onya." 

The single includes the main version and a remix from Configa, who produced a large chunk of Don't Fight Your Demons, along with an old-school TV track which is the instrumental with the chorus. While intended as a standalone, I will be adding both vocal versions to my playlist of the new album. And, since my car still has a CD player, looks like I will be burning another copy of the album to add this once it goes up on iTunes and/or Amazon

Update: You can pre-order the single here on BandCamp for release tomorrow, November 2nd.

Expansion Delayed Until 2021 and Speech Interview With DJ Vlad

 

Per the latest email newsletter from Arrested Development, Speech's upcoming album Expansion, originally scheduled for release, well, now, has been delayed until 2021.

Honestly, I think it's the right move. While I always look forward to new Speech music, Don't Fight Your Demons has been getting a lot of attention and it seems to me that it's best to let that breathe and have its time in the sunshine. That said, when they say 2021, hopefully they mean January 1, 2021. ;)

In other news from the update, CDs and Vinyl are still forthcoming for Don't Fight and Speech's interview with Vlad is up now on the YouTube. I imagine this will add to the buzz for the new album, and bigly so. I will be checking it out soon! Links are below.

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

Part Four:

Interview on Breaking Wreckords Radio

Here's a lengthy interview with Speech and Configa, executive producer and producer on Don't Fight Your Demons. The interview is for a general audience so a lot of the questions are ones with answers that AD fans will already be familiar with, but you also get some good insight on the new album and Configa's involvement with it. Enjoy!

16 Bars on Amazon Prime

 

I'm going to be honest--I had no idea Speech's documentary 16 Bars was available on DVD. I've just ordered a copy. And the good news is that it's also on Amazon Prime, so if you have Prime, check it out now! Here's a link to the DVD on Amazon, which also contains a link to the video on Prime. I will have my thoughts once I watch the film. Looking forward to it!

And while you're at it, check out the soundtrack here! Speaking of things I didn't know, I was not aware a CD had been produced for the soundtrack--so now I have bought that as well.

Reel People Featuring Speech "I Never Knew"

Great news--despite just releasing the new AD album and having a new Speech album coming in two weeks, there's even more new music to check out--this time with Speech featuring on a new song from the group Reel People. This is an upbeat, happy tune featuring a lot of Speech, along with an official video. Check it out below! And the single includes a longer edit that runs over 5 minutes, so check that out as well on all major streaming and purchase sites.

A Return to Conscious Rap?

 

As most are likely aware, last week saw the release of what to me personally were three really big records from three of my favorites: Arrested Development, naturally, along with Public Enemy and Paris. Many others also took notice of the moment and some included the Nappy Roots in the mix, which is fine as while not one of my personal favorites, I do respect their artistry. 

On that note, Hip Hop DX wrote an article that posed the question "Is This a Return of Conscious Rap?" Considering conscious rap never went away I would say "No" out of principle and stubbornness, but it certainly is refreshing to see a little more attention being sent to these groups at the moment. 

All in all, I think hip hop is a big tent and there's room for all sorts of subject matter and styles, but if people want to embrace the styles and artists I tend to gravitate toward, that would be just fine with me!

Check out the article here, it's a good read.

More Great Reviews

Reviews! Get your reviews of the new AD album Don't Fight Your Demons!

First we'll start with a rave from Hip Hop Golden Age: 

https://hiphopgoldenage.com/arrested-development-dont-fight-your-demons/

Another rave review, this one from the Irked Music Geek:

https://www.irkedmusicgeek.com/home/2020/9/29/sunset-in-ghana-arrested-development-x-ohene-savant-x-rambo-x-configa

One more great one, this one is very in depth, which I love, and comes from Infinite Sounds UK.

https://infinitesoundsuk.blogspot.com/2020/09/album-review-dont-fight-your-demons-by.html?spref=tw

And here's a nice note on "Becoming" from Spitfire Hiphop:

https://www.spitfirehiphop.com/features/2020/09/arrested-development-becoming-off-dont-fight-your-demons-lp/

There might be some bad reviews of the album, I don't know, but I haven't found any yet--so I'll assume there's not. 

Don't Fight Your Demons Review

Arrested Development, Don't Fight Your Demons

After giving the new release by Arrested Development one last listen before writing this, I realized that I was trying to complicate something that was actually simple. (Ain't that how it goes, though?) Once the last track, "The Forsaken," came to a close, I turned away from my laptop had one very clear thought: 

Well, that's an album.

Yeah, of course it is, you might have said if you were there to hear my thought with me. What the hell else would it be?

You're right, I might say back. I should probably clarify.

And this is where is I complicate everything by explaining. So here goes. 

Don't Fight Your Demons is an album the way they used to make 'em. A Tribe Called Quest. De la Soul. Public Enemy. Eric B and Rakim, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, and the Beastie Boys. And yes, Arrested Development.

Full "Becoming" Video Now Available

Just like the title says, the full video for the first single from Don't Fight Your Demons, "Becoming," is available now. Check it out below!

New Speech Album October 23rd

New AD album not enough for ya? Good. I'm with you. I can always use more myself. And along that line there's good news, as Speech has a new solo album coming up less than a month from now--Expansion, releasing October 23rd.

I can't guarantee the above is the cover, but I assume it is as it is on Speech's site--and as someone with a daughter that rides horses, I love it.

For those that missed it, Speech released an EP earlier this year titled Expansion Pt. 1 with 4 tracks--presumably the full album is an, ahem, expansion of that project. That EP can be found here. As much as I am enjoying all of the new, good music that's been released lately, I am excited to hear this project as well! Keep it coming! As the saying goes, "I am still thirsty."

Don't Fight Your Demons Now Available

Today is the day! Don't Fight Your Demons is available now on all streaming sites and for purchase on iTunes, Amazon, and https://officialarresteddevelopment.bandcamp.com/  My understanding is there could be a CD release (I hope so, I'm old school that way) but there is not one as of yet.

I am having a new music overload with this, the new-ish Public Enemy (about half the album is made up of tracks from their prior release), totally new Paris, and massive deluxe re-release of Sign o' the Times. Finally some good news in this accursed year.

Speaking of good news, here's an early rave review of the new album from Cryptic Rock! And here's another one from writer William P. Stodden!

I'm slowly getting back acclimated to this whole blogging thing, but my aim is to have more on the new album later. In the meantime, enjoy!

The Story Behind "Becoming"

Via the confounding Facebook, Speech has shared a nice behind-the-scenes analysis of Arrested Development's new single "Becoming." I don't believe you need a Facebook account to view the video--hopefully I am not wrong about that. If you don't have a Facebook account, you're smarter than me. Anyway, links below. Enjoy!

And as a reminder, the new Arrested Development album Don't Fight Your Demons drops at midnight tonight along with new albums by Paris (Safe Space Invader) and Public Enemy (What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?), which makes for quite a trifecta. 

https://www.facebook.com/brotherspeech/videos/10158847225603894

New AD Single and Album

In case you haven't heard, AD is releasing a new album, Don't Fight Your Demons, this Friday--which makes this an ideal time to wake this blog from its slumber. So far two songs have been released from the album, "Becoming" and "Young Americans," both on one single along with a few other little bonuses, which I love about singles (available here). Here's a preview for the video of "Becoming":

And here's a behind-the-scenes look at "Becoming" from Configa, who will be producing all or most of the new album: