3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of...

cooler hip-hop, jedoch teilweise etwas eintönig.

Hip-Hop, nicht so mein Stil

Wasn't expecting old school hip hop married with some truly eccentric beats, but it's got me moving. Mr. Wendal has addicting drums and nice little melodies - it's subtle with quirky vocal samples and a simple bassline. I can't say I like all of this, but it's certainly progressive in its approach. Good when it gets a bit more uptempo - Fishin' 4 Religion has a real groove to it & an aggressive flow. It can almost be too much at times, 'U' brings lightning quick rapping and layers of beats and samples, a sparse piano riff over it. But then Eve Of Reality is a slow, atmospheric instrumental with forest sounds and flute. I wish we had more of this! Natural follows with some pretty chill beats too. The closer leans more into the African sound that was threaded through this. I still dont' know how much I really like it, but it gets points for not sounding like any other hip hop album I can name.

Yah, I love this album! So happy to hear rap that isn't about guns, bitches and 40's! Some folks don't like how far opposite this goes with some cheesy bits. But really, the world could stand more happy people singing about nature than about killing cops, yah? Speech has a good voice and I can understand what he sings and raps about. (Die mumble rap, die!) The others add good spice and flair throughout. "Tennessee" People Everyday" and "Mr. Wendal" are standouts, but I kind of like all of them. Even when it gets a little repetitive, which is usually quick to take me out of a song, I'm not bothered so much here. This is a solid 4 for me!

I liked a lot of this but the preacher sitting backwards on his chair vibe kind of killed the momentum to higher rating.

Ok…nostalgic and reminds me of middle school

Arrested Development – 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days In The Life Of... (1992) On Day 95, I found this project to be a decent listen. It achieves exactly what it tries to do with its conscious and soulful approach to hip-hop, providing a solid atmospheric backdrop. While it didn't offer me much in terms of a transcending experience, "Mr. Wendal" was a personal favorite that really hit the mark. The production is consistent and the message is clear, but as a body of work, it stays in the passable range for me. A respectable 3/5. Edit: In light of new favorite track "People Everyday", I decided to re-listen the LP once more and it came to grow-up on me and really appreciate the kind of art it is. So here we go with a 5.,

Honestly was hoping for something better.

Other noises going on while playing so shoulder listen, but definitely 5 stars

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected

sick beats

This is one of those divisive albums for a lot of hiphop heads. Probably because it was very accepted in the mainstream at the time, and because Speech gets a little preachy on his assertions of what hiphop should and shouldn't be. Its mainstream popularity (Read: white people could stomach it at a time when Public Enemy and Ice Cube freaked them out) is probably why Demery put it on this list. While I agree that Speech can be preachy, the album is still pretty good overall. Does Tribe do Arrested Development's kind of conscious rap better? Definitely. But here the production is great, beats are solid. Speech may not have the best flow, especially at this time, the golden era of rap lyricism, but his lyrics have a message and he keeps up. He's not trying to be a Kane or G Rap in rhyme schemes. Plus, he does the singing rap thing in Tennessee or Raining Revolution years before Drake monetized it. Everyday People is a timeless banger, though the album version isn't nearly as good as the single version on that front. It's more laid back. Tennessee as well, timeless. Mr. Wendal is a great example of Speech being, well, Speech. Just slightly on the corny side. But it's still a great track. Raining Revolution really works as well. Basically, this could have been better, but Speech's corny personality drops it down to a 4. I still really have a soft spot for it, though. As for whether it belongs on this list, well, as always, it's not so much about whether it belongs, but what hiphop albums could've been on this list rather. Demery's lack of understanding of the genre, on display as usual. I think he just picks rap albums that had singles in the 90s he recognizes. It's a good, if slightly flawed, 90s hiphop album. But not sure it had much impact on the genre, given that Tribe, Queen Latifah and De La had already released albums before this that were better at exactly what this tries to achieve.

This feels like attending a fun, education-based party where I don't fit in at all and everyone is wondering who let me in. We covered lots of important topics like parenting, social justice, income inequality, the environment, geography, and religion. But we did it all while shaking our learning butts to a positive and groovy beat. I wake up the next day wondering if it ever happened at all or if it was just a fever dream but I'm suddenly nice as fuck to my fellow citizens and believe in god. 3.9

Fun

The beats are often fun, the lyrics are sometimes thought-provoking and there's a nice flow between the first several tracks, but Arrested Development's debut album has very little else to offer. There's a pretty nice run of tracks from "Fishin' 4 Religion" to "U" – I probably would have given this album three stars if it ended right there, but it unfortunately kept spinning its wheels for another 22 minutes. Highlights: Man’s Final Frontier, Mr. Wendal, Fishin’ 4 Religion, Give a Man a Fish, U

I saw this band well past their halcyon days in a double bill with Chumbawamba at a festival. They shared the stage, like at the same time. It was such an odd pairing but more entertaining than it had a right to be. Both groups were surprisingly talented and mixed well together. Anyway, I don’t find the songs here to be all that memorable but the vibe is mostly positive. This is acceptable music to put on and feel good.

Pretty fun, liked Mama’s Always on Stage.

Expectations were low coming in. This wasnt bad! The samples were really cool. Lots of James Brown. Some corny “clean rap” stuff, but I found it mostly refreshing. Mr Wendal was cool. I liked U.

PEAK!! “ladies and gentlemen, there are seven acknowledged wonders of the world, you’re about to witness the eighth.” absolute cinema.

Fun, feel good music.

I appreciated the samplings and my wife was bouncing around the room to this album. And there's really nothing wrong with that, quite frankly.

Great message. Good album.

Another great record that gets lost in the sands of time. As good as Tribe or Beasties.

I don't know much about hiphop but quite liked this fun album which has great beats. It also aged pretty well. It's a bit too long though as it's usually my problem with many post-90s albums.

great rap album, good vibes

High quality early hip hop. Every song is fun, but the lyrics are just so cheesy on a lot of them that it’s hard to get to a 4. Good album though.

3 out of 5. Didn't know what to expect but didn't hate it either.

I just thought it was ok. It didn't really make my ear perk up. some hip hop from the late 80s or early 90s sounds really dated, even though there were some hip hop artists that sounded ahead of their time and still sound fresh a few decades later.

2.71

Okay very good songs at the end mix was bad on some songs

No suena bien

mm idk, this didn't do much for me personally. It's certainly not bad! The production is light and funky albeit pretty dated. It's just that outside of "People Everyday" and "Tennessee" there wasn't much here that really stood out to me. "Teach a man to fish" had a decent message but also was a bit too repetitive and a little corny for me to take seriously. I think at the end of the day there just wasn't much for me to connect to, as a white atheist.

Way ahead of its time! 90's classic

meh. i get that this is defining for conscious rap but it’s kind of boring

Funky but dated in parts.

3/5, cool. Some pretty interesting things. Something about killing baptists? Wild

All around solid

It's a Rap Album with some interesting moments but overall Rap's not my cup of tea.

It’s got that nice bouncy 90’s hip hop sound down. Kinda locks it in time vibe wise but it’s fun

Было весело, но быстро надоело. Немного обнообразно. Семплы, живые инструменты, характерный для 90-х речитатив. Я вернусь к этому позже и, возможно, изменю оценку.

When the song Tennessee was released I came to the realization that rap could include other genres. It was so refreshing. At the time, I should have explored their music more but I there were other groups that captured my interest. Listening to this album for the first time I found the few catchy and fun songs aren't carrying the entire album enough for me to add it to my listening rotation.

Me gusto este disco de hip hop, la onda que transmite y la sintonia en que se encuentran todas las canciones y me parecio muy llamativo la presencia del bajo en muchas canciones.

Loved the beat production and some of the flows on this album, but underneath it all there is this strange sense of 90s corniness that’s kinda hard to get over. It kinda feels like if the Veggie Tale characters tried to make a politically charged album. The sentiment feels a bit too hippy dippie and lacks any rigor.

Not for me. 1/5

A hip hop album that starts super fun but gets progressive staler. The first handful of tracks are super fun and funky. The beats sound very uplifting and the rappers have very charismatic deliveries and flows. To make a comparison, another band that this reminded my of is The Pharcyde. The lyrics are also great, having both very positive and critic messages. "Mama's Always on Stage" talks about supporting a young mother and his newborn, "Mr Wendal" about helping the poor and "Fishin' 4 Religion" is a fantastic criticism against religion and about how followers are learnt to cope with their problems instead of searching for solutions and changes. There are some other songs that include some great social and political commentary, but I think these three stand out the most, at least for me. My problem with this album is how it loses steam as it moves forwards, with few moments having the same energy as the first couple of songs, and the tracks after "U" being quite forgettable, both in terms of beats and rapping delivery, and even sounding very quiet. So while I think this is a great album, it is quite a shame it wasn't able to hold up the energy from the initial part.

Highlights: Mama's Always On Stage, People Everyday, Mr. Wendal, Children Play With Earth, Fishin' 4 Religion, Give A Man A Fish, Tennessee Dope hip-hop record. What sells it is a very progressive and Afro-centric view of the world which was original. Production is fun, lively and positive - very optimistic sounding. Like a happy little hip hop party.

Love this upbeat hip hop. Such a jarring contrast to the big names in Rap back then.

Idk why I don't listen to more of this era hip-hop & this specifically (maybe naively) optimistic positive good vibes. Always lifts my mood, always gets me thinking, always gets me “swinging my legs” Did James Cameron hear Dawn of the Dreads and create Avatar?! (Favorite part of the album was at the end of that song when they said it’s a brand new song by arrested development, dawn of the dreads, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks guys! I did!

Dawn of the Dreads should have been as big as Straight Outta Compton

The two hits from this record still rattle around in my head over 30 years later, occasionally resurfacing when a word or phrase spins them up like an old hard drive. There's something to be said for that kind of staying power even if you don't consistently listen to the group or even the album very much. The rest of the record is well-played jazzy hip-hop that was gaining ground at this time. But unlike De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, this record never hit my airwaves outside of the videos I caught on MTV or the hits on the radio. This seems like something I would have been all over had I given it the time of day at the time.

Sonically great. Full of ideas, earnest in a good way most of the time.

ambitious, but fails as often as it succeeds. just made me want to listen to other early 90s rap gems top track: Mr Wendell

Liking this much better now than when it originally came out. The use of live instruments on a hip hop album seemed so novel in 1992 and adds a liveliness to these tracks. Lyrics about Pan Africanism and self determination add to the overall vibe. I'll take this over soundcloud mumble rap any day.

Overall it’s a sure for me dog

Socially Conscious Rap - good!

ich ha kei ziit gha zum gnaui notize mache aber ich finds insaaane preachy musikalisch nöd so spannend und afoch au nöd öpis woni viel cha demit afange. nöd so deep wies tönt.

de spass isch schomal am durredrucke! falls die ganze 55 min so sind weiss nöd öbs mi iwenn nervt aber s isch schona cool de gsang bi mr. wendal isch mega geiil es isch würkli soo andersch als de vorherrschendi rap zu dere ziit hahaha ich bin chli hii- und hergrisse, es verbreitet echt gueti luune und find sie hend na cooli samples/bgvs aber leider jimmt mi jz wenig würkli mit U isch glichzitig nervig und sehr cool gsi guess what: es isch z lang dawn of the dreads het en geileee ahfang poaah de schluss het sich zoge jaa schlecht ischs nöd gsi

6/10

I love this. I kind of wish rap had stayed this way. The beats were solid. The lyrics have some sort of social consciousness. I like the vibe of positivity over the belligerence that some other rap records in this list carry.

It’s not my style but I definitely recognize their sound, as embedded in our culture as they are. I hesitate to say more since I’m out of my wheelhouse with this genre.

вроде интересно звучит, занимательно, хип-хоп за столько времени перетерпел много изменений, сравнить с нынешним было бы просто глупо. но я быстро устала от него. забавные порой корни текста, но он имеет некое настроение, посыл, который шел врознь с тем, что подавали в хип хопе тогда

This is great actually. I prefer the tracks I hadn’t heard before. The mix of PE/James Brown breaks and 90’s rap is cool.

Had never heard of this group before. It was pretty cool, great vibes. Lyrics were a bit on the nose sometimes but I can forgive that.

As a rap fan, I've known this from way back. It is of its time and a worthy alternative to what was mainstream. Unusually that this is on the list, but a welcome surprise to be sure.

Fun but kind of preachy. Not exactly surprising from a dude named Speech

My favorite style of hip hop. Enjoyed the positivity on this album!

My most surprising moment was when a track called teach a man a fish ended up being a call for revolution, from a band I always thought were far more cuddly.

4.4

I get that this was of a time, this was early 90s, so actually these guys were ahead of their time in my opinion. This sounds like late 90s backpack rap, it’s not subtle with its messages, and it’s unabashedly corny. It’s not my favorite thing but I commend them for being true to themselves.

Never listened. Expectations: None - Verdict: Alright - This is a fun listen but for me it lacks a bit of substance. My favourite parts are the singalong choruses and maybe the flow on some verses. The beats are fine but no more than that. People Everyday is a clear highlight, banger track. Definitely a pretty good album but it's not doing a lot for me.

Didn’t love it, but I enjoyed it.

6/10 Favorite: People Everyday

This was cool and enjoyable, I should revisit some of the bars because I sense depth in the lyrics. The funk elements really elevate the album which is surprising for me to say given that I don't always like funk. 3.5 rounded... up?

There are definitely some fun things on this album and it's definitely different (in a refreshing way) than much of the other 90s rap we've been getting. But an hour is probably too long for this because it creates too much interstitial space between the high points.

Sounds a bit outdated even by 90's standards. 3/5

I can appreciate how this jovial and spiritually-inclined collective helped divert hip hop away from some of the aggressive and negative trends of the time. It set open a fresh, free-form horizon that was somewhere between the serious, heavy-handed exhortations of Public Enemy and De La Soul's jolly, juvenile skits. Anyway, looking back, 'Tennessee' was revolutionary at the time, but seem unremarkable now.

sehr close an 2 sterne aber es hat mir jetzt zumindest keine schmerzen bereitet

The big singles were certainly a nostalgia trip. A bit dated but overall, a decent early 90s album.

90s hip hop. Southern hip hop, distinct from gangsta rap, is more spiritual. Interesting instrumental elements. Pretty mellow.

EI EU ADORO ESSA SERIE FAVS (top 3): mr. wendal, raining revolution, U mençoes honrosas: man's final frontier, mama's always on stage, fishin 4 religion, give a man a fish, dawn of the dreads um hiphopzinho bem dahorinha nota final: 3.5/5

Didn't realize this was the debut album of Arrested Development. I thought they timed out the distance between albums but it's actually the length of time it took for them to get a record deal. To wait that long and drop a classic like this out of the gate, bet they made those other record companies feel like idiots. Generational talents and bangers. Tight group dynamics and smooth, interesting music wins this for me. This is my favorite style of hip hop and loved the album.

Had been a while since I revisited this album. Closer to a 2.75 for me. Cool ideas, great rapping, but something about it felt a little dated and not as exciting as I remembered. Mr. Wendel and Tennessee are for sure the standout tracks.

I didn’t save anything but it was a nice listen. Definitely different. Strong 3.

Good stuff, and a good representation of this era of social issues focused hip hop

Couple of songs at the end I didn't love, but overall this blew me away.

Meh. This was nostalgic at best, but listening back although I enjoyed some of the Melodies overall I actually think this is quite a weak album. The lyrics are weird a lot of the time and it drags. For fifteen tracks…

Something that I kinda wanted to like a lot more than I did. I think it speaks volumes when you’re most streamed song by a mile has been mixed by someone else to actually make it popular. I also think 15 tracks on an album like this is just so indulgent, and things like this should really prioritise quality over quantity.

I enjoyed the first half of this but then honestly it just dragged. I like the sentiment of Arrested Development and what they were doing and I think the sound is interesting and does draw you in but you can have too much of a good thing I'd say. Still, I did enjoy it and so want to give it a 3.

Really loved the first half, especially Mr. Wendel but the quality dropped off a bit the latter half. I like how offbeat some of the topics were, like when he just starts rapping about his insecurities as a short guy.

New (to me) gem!

A couple good tunes. Nice message. No need to be on the list.

Koselig plate, men en god del av låtene er ikke noe særlig.

well, it certainly encapsulates a moment in time

It was a good record. Pretty different from the rest of the hip-hop albums from that era.

Gutes Album... Nur nicht meins

90s gute Laune Hip Hop. Macht Spaß und sorgt für gute Stimmung. Toller Beat. Überraschend gut.

Chilly light sight of 90s hip hop

2.6/2.7 cheesy

3 years, 3 stars. If they waited two more years I might've given more.

- tää on varmaan joku uraauurtava levy mut ei ollu kyl mun kuppi teetä

It's good, but I think old school hip hop just isn't really my thing

Def hip hop roots but low key kinda ass

Not a great album. It sets out to make a more ‘positive’ hip-hop album, but sounds like the kind of rap you’d have brought into a secondary school assembly. It all just feels too safe, and that sound is very similar across the whole album. The group clearly had a bee in their bonnet about how long it took them to get a record deal, but with music this mediocre I’m not sure it was a great injustice.

I appreciate this group’s attempt to make a ‘positive’ hip-hop album, but unfortunately the concept is much better than the execution. Lyrically it feels clunky, and their attempts to contrast themselves with gangsta rap come across as rather sanctimonious. More importantly, I was underwhelmed by both the rapping and most of the beats, which were quite repetitive. Much of the production has also dated poorly and is pretty cheesy. It’s not terrible (some tracks were decent), just largely uninteresting. It made almost zero lasting impression on me. I’m not surprised it took them a while to get a record deal.

So much fun!!

wowww getting heavy sublime esque vibes from this

Not really my thing

A treat of a classic hip-hop album. Can't give it more than a three in good conscience, but I enjoyed this one.

bello come sottofondo

Liked

Yeah cool but weird and too noisy for me??

As usual with old school hip hop, I find it fun for like…a song or two… then it starts getting really repetitive and uninteresting to me. 3/5 Highlights: Mr. Wendal U Dawn Of The Dreads

Great album

Decently fun, though not really warranting an hour's length

Surprised at how much I liked it.

Genre: Conscious Hip Hop Generally, this brand of hip hop, the early 90s sort of boom-bap stuff, is not for me. But this is so earnest, and so well-meaning, that it's hard to hate. Christian Hip Hop is not a bygone genre, and in fact these guys were sort of on the cutting edge. Albums like Donda, artists like Lecrae, this stuff lives on. This was a fun listen, and again just too positive to hate. 3/5

Let's try to start again. We'll see how it works... First of all, let's appreciate that album cover. I am quit ambivalent about this early hip hop record usually. But I really enjoy this one so far. The beats are consistently great and the vocal delivery and verses are cool. It's all flowing very well. Doesn't feel aged like many of It's contemporaries that I've heard before. Track 9 "Coz we're worked real hard to get this far We're catching the bus before we bought the car", what a great line. 10, 11 go a bit less exiting. Level remains high since 12. It's a very nice listening experience. I do think overall the second half is a bit weaker than the first, but not by much. A nice strong 3.4 to get back to business

Incredibly smooth- feels 90s but not dated. Speech fits into this weird pocket where he's both singing and rapping. The conscious hip hop messaging is mostly pretty likable and inoffensive stuff, which is why I think people call them "corny," but with instrumentals, melodies, and vibes this good, it does not bother me that they are borderline a Christian group.

I haven't heard this record in a long time and have only listened to it as a whole maybe once or twice. It still holds up though and is up there with some of my other 90's hip hop favorites like Tribe and J5. 3.75/5

Really great album that I didn't know. I really wish this sort of rap would have won out over gangsta rap. This is way more my speed. 4/5

I got this album when I was 14 and considered it very much in the same vibe as De La Soul and ver different to the more prevalent gangsta rap. I love the loose, almost improvised sound of the music, which gives it the feeling of a genuine creative collective. I love their spin on People Everyday and it’s good to be reminded that the original album version is quite a different version to the hit (see also Brimful of Asha by Cornershop) Mr Wendell grabs you straight out the box. It’s inherent catchiness make it easy to miss the socially aware message that it conveys. Somehow makes me think of sunny days (i am listening to this on a cold, grey January day. Give a man a fish continues the blend of social awareness lyrical messages with an infectious groove, which separates this from a lot of music that either goes aggressively on the messaging or focuses on the music. U lifts the tempo and highlights Speech’s skills to great effect. It also lifts part of it’s melody from Me, Myself and I which only reinforce my association with De La.

I spent 99% of this album hating it - it was on course for (I think) my first 1* of 2026. Then the last few songs happened. I really did enjoy “Dawn of the Dreads” and “Tennessee”; both were better than the rest of the album.

So getting the bad out of the way first: this is too long. My attention started wandering just past Mr. Wendal, though it locked back in around U, so I think cutting a couple of songs would have improved this (but my personal preference has always been for 45/50ish minutes max). Other than that, I really enjoyed this. The mixing and sampling is really engaging, I like Speech's sort of talky-singy rapping style and the general timbre of his voice and I like the backing vocals too. I realise that one of the insults that gets thrown at Arrested Development is that the lyrics are corny, and I just don't get it. The lyrics are talking about social issues earnestly and just because they aren't full of angry and violence, that doesn't make them lesser than others who talk about similar topics. People Everyday slightly threw me for a loop, because I have only ever heard the much quicker single version, but I still liked it a lot. I even didn't mind the skit-adjacent bits of the record (although cutting them would have helped reduce the length). Bonus point for the yodally yell at the beginning of Mr Wendal, as I've always loved it. 4/5

Don't really like it much but it is kind of okay. 3 stars or C-.

Let the revolution begin

Vary prince of bellair but it’s fun it’s rap and hip hop

Gladkristent og litt slitsomt.

Mr. Wendell trekker masse opp

Ikke min greie. Hadde kanskje foretrukket en instrumental-versjon.

Hørt hjemme. Dørge kjedelig? Kan ikke huske en eneste låt bortsett fra fiskelåten som e nokka av det verste æ har hørt så langt 2026. Ellers OK- bakgrunnsmusikk.

Tamt. Veldig goody goody tekster. En hel sang om et ordtak...

I LOVE IT

rap anni 90 con molta critica sociale, non il top per me ma si apprezza sempre

I'll take this over "Gansta rap" anyday. Can get repetitive and the delivery could be better but it's a solid album. Definitely of its time. 3/5.

Very funky , bathed in sunshine

This was great, this is what I think of when I think 90s hip-hop. Lots of texture and color in the production and their voices are distinct.

4.0/5 Amazing so far. Fishin 4 religion -> Teach a man to fish -> U. What a great succession of songs right in the middle of the album, i have to relisten to this more.

No va

Scratching sounds is definitely something you don't hear anymore, and I think it's for the better. Overall very 90s sounding record. Playful and cheerful. Got some decent tunes in there, but also a lot of jibberish. You definitely get tired of the formula after a while. The record is firing in many different directions, so it's hard to have a cohesive vision of what the album is when finishing it. Very in the middle experience to me, with some good stuff and some not-so-good.

Old-school hip hop. At first, I thought this would merely be a time capsule of early ’90s hip hop culture, but the more I listened, the more I enjoyed it. Nice raps, nice sampling, and even the scratching felt right on this album. My favorites were “People Everyday” and “Dawn of the Dreads” — they asked for a funky bassline, and my God, did they get it. Going to be generous and give this a weak 4.

I don't hate this as much as some people, there's some pretty good production on this thing, quite memorable just the vocal performance is a little lackluster

this was so cool :D

I like what they were trying to do here. But they didn’t quite succeed in making it good. A couple decent songs can’t save this below average album.

The album kind of got repetitive and ran on. But the first half had some fun jams and beats. Appreciate the goal and message of the album, even if the religious content became a little much at times.

People of the Day was a hard ass song, but the rest was so cheesy I got diarrhea

Fresh and earnest hip-hop that may have had only a moment in the sun, but was a fun alternative to gangsta. Kind of like if P.M. Dawn had come back a bit closer to Earth. "Tennessee" still bangs and it sounds more energetic than the rest of the album, which does groove into repetition too often. But it's great to listen to if you want to warp back to the early '90s.

Now I have a solid rebut when people claim hip hop is aggressive and out of touch with its softer side. I didn’t know any tracks here until Tennessee, which rang bells deep in my memory and sent me plummeting back to my childhood. Awesome.

I quite enjoyed that

‘Hey! That’s the name of the show!’ T1 8th wonder of the world is hard T2 dopest beat with a harmonica. Just a totally sick mix. Junior wells playing that harp sample and pretty sure thers is a buddy guy composition in here. 1:45 yeaaaa this is what I like T4/5 these guys really sound like they have a big appreciation for predecessors in various genres. Usually when u can hear the gospel roots u can hear all the rockabilly and rhythm and blues that leads to rock, and same thing here. Sometimes artists you can tell really listened to James brown or Isley bros, but these guys don’t sound directly derivative, more so a conglomerate of inspiration from a hundred years of music (and that omitting any Afro beat they include), seems like they, or their engineers whatever, were students of music history and wanted to do their own thing. It’s weird how well this fits into the culture and environment of the 90s hip hop scene, so it’s surprising to me to have this group that can gel so well with what people would’ve been hearing on the radio (I mean how else are they gonna get radio play), and yet it doesn’t seem like a dated piece of ‘90s music’ like a lot of 90s rap and music in general is. No shade against the others just something about the diversity in this album makes it stand out. T8 up until 1:55 this was Kind of the ‘90s music I was referencing, not quite as coooie cutter, definitely not quite as cookie cutter, forsure more unique. Innervisions type beat T9 1:37 me at Thanksgiving “This is antisemetic bullshit! I’m gonna call my friends over at the jdl” fr tho black people do hate Italians Less thoughts as the album went on. Had a good time. Not my favorite but there’s a lot in there I really enjoyed listening to this morning.

Not 4 me

such a lively listen!

Liked it less with every song. Great ideas just so meandering and repetitive

This is the definition of a 2 song album. Nothing else apart from mr wendal and everyday people rises above the average. Even those 2 songs havnt aged well. All in all not a satisfying experience.

I was a college-age rap fan when this came out. Everyone was lukewarm on Arrested Development. Their Grammy and MTV award wins make complete sense now, given the commercial slant of those honors, as rap and African-American artistry was moving closer to mainstream success but the culture was not ready to accept the violence of gangsta rap or the sexuality of guys like LL CoolJ. AD was smart, clean, talented and socially provoking. Unfortunately that made them boring too. This album is ok. The big hit still resonates and the other cuts are ok.

I've seen this album cover so many times and never listened to it. I thought it was some form funk/rap punk - something similar to Fishbone. However, I was surprised how similar it is to a lot of hip-hop I like. However, I do think it shows its age in a way that some other stuff doesn't completely, with the production and approach. However, it is a very good hip-hop album that I'm very glad I listened to!

I remember this one from back in the day lol as Mr Wendal and Tennessee were MTV staples. I didn't understand any of the social commentary back then and now allot of it is just depressing considering how far we haven't come or how far we've fallen

Afrocentric comes into hip-hop and changes music with positivity, spirituality etc. I liked "People Everday" but mostly this album just reminded me of a sort of more soulful Beastie Boys. Not my favorite, but respect their influence.

Very positive and upbeat but very of its time - a couple songs I’d go back to

Jesus I liked this way more than I thought, I'm not a rap fan, or atleast, I haven't tried. But I liked ts. Debating 3 or 4. Might change on a relisten but rn a 3.

Traté de escucharlo en la pandemia. Aún no hace click :( Se aprecia su influencia en Outkast y Goodie Mob

parece listening de clase de inglés desos que te explican cosas sencillas con bolas y palitos jsjaja ;-; tiene dos que me gustaron pero no como pa revisitarlas lol

es que los beats están bien chidos y aprecio la intención política y que le tire al imperialismo gringo pero como dice sofi, se pone bien didáctico y ya parece plaza sésamo, cawn

Would. 4/5

Very much an example of "they walked so others could run." This is by no means bad, and considering how early in the history of hip hop this album came out it's actually quite impressive. But listening to this over 30 years later, I just find it to be so dated and even in some ways quite cheesy and corny. I'm sure that at the time that style was all the rage, but there is still a hell of a lot of hip hop from this era that by a landslide has aged better, and I think that comparison is very telling to how "essential" this album really is.

Not my cup of tea. to put the album in perspective. During the time period, you had warring factions, East Coast vs West Coast rap culminating in the drive-by shooting deaths of Tupac and Notorius B.I.G.. Arrested Development's album was the South's answer to country's rap scene, with the huge hit Tennessee. Where both coast's rap is essentially about thug life, A.D,'s album was about everyday black life and their history. i think that's probably why it's on most rap critic's top twenty most influential albums of the genre.

What is this, the college football playoffs? All you need to do is be black and sing about black life and you get an automatic bid to the 1001 best albums? This was bad.

Give a man a fish he will eat for a day .....

I enjoyed this - I wouldn't scream and rave about it but it's pretty good

3/5

I have a hard time hating on this album because it's very positive. Most of the songs have a fun, uplifting message and the production is also quite bouncy and creative. Some of their ideas don't really work out, the country-rap bits are a bit corny, same with the r&b fusion songs. The rapping is not the strongest and a lot of the hooks are kinda weak, but then again there is something simply cool about the music. It's just good vibes, even if it's not perfect.

give a man a generic 1990s rap album and he'll give it a 5/10

Not terribly interesting to me. Lots of Afro-American spoken word, really. Not my thing.

Klart at se hvorfor den er på must hear. Samplingen er forud for sin tid, man kan høre Eazy-E og GZA i flows også? Lyrikken er til tider lidt cheesy, MEN så også voldsomt skarp på andre :)

Really enjoyable the whole way through. It’s cool to listen to an early southern hip hop album. The big singles delivered and the rest of it was full of fun instrumentals. There weren’t any skits I had to sit through thankfully and thought the hour flew by pretty quick. Rating: 4.7

Five stars, this is so good.

Love the progressive, positive social commentary and hate they felt complelled to drag religion into it. Ugh.

Yo, this was sick! It constantly defied my expectations of what it could be from track to track. Virtually no swearing, heartfelt subject matters, novelty in sound with record scratching battling harmonicas, twangy basslines, multiple vocals all complimenting each other. It was the cleanest, most light-hearted and fun I've even experienced from Hip-Hop. Speech is a real cool guy.

Some nice old school hip hop vibes here.

Hip Hop, 50eme album => 1/5 Moins désagréable que la plupart des albums de Hip Hop que j'ai subi (majoritairement chanté plutôt que rappé). Mais je n'ai pas quand même pas pu aller au bout.

This is pleasant enough buy no more than that. Mr Wendel and Tennessee are good doses of nostalgia for me but I can't see myself enjoying them as much without that. The album's also longer than it needs to be, like so many hip hop albums.

Have not heard of this group, I love the show though. Didn't know what I was going to get - turns out it's some classic 90's rap with bass heavy, funk-ass beats that flows really nicely. Reminds me of De La Soul, Slick Rick, Kanye, OutKast. Recognized 'Tennessee" from somewhere.

Mr. Wendell, People Everyday, and Tennessee are great. And there are other good songs. The delivery is purposefully earnest and comes off as corny, but the issues that they were addressing were/are serious and this was new to hip hop. They didn’t have a playbook - they were pioneering a new direction. Also, unlike some other early 90s bangers this has aged better with its anti-misogyny messaging. But not enough to get this past the 3.5 star hump that is dividing line between good and great. However, I think that I’ll round up: 4⭐️

Another hip hop album that had more creativity and didn’t rely on tropes, but I didn’t feel like the flow and beats were as compelling as other similar albums. It had a decent amount of variety but I mostly found it either ok or a bit on the boring side. A few less tracks might have boosted this a bit but it wasn’t really for me.

"Fishin for religion" took a dire turn for me for what was up till then reasonably promising as I didn't hate the album.  GOD awful song pun intended.  The very next fishy song was no catch either. Did they steal my old childhood keyboard as well as its like they had a play with the presets / demos. Refreshing they didn't just bang on about typical gangster topics of 90's and had some musical variety.  Even Funky at times. Got through it but not enough here for me to want to revisit.

It's nice to listen to such a positive hip-hop record that isn't so heavy on the drugs, sex and violence. I also thought the music felt refreshingly vibrant and fun and themes were quite wholesome. A major negative is that it's too long. I was in a really positive space with it at thirty minutes in but when an album is nearing an hour long, it has to be exceptional to continue to hold my attention. In this case, it mostly failed to do so and ended up descending into blur of rhythm and horns. There were a few standout tracks in the album and generally it was a fun reminder of hip-hop's diversity before it was dominated by the gangster rap sound.

4 - great album

Chill 90's rap. Like the mood.

The only Arrested Development song I know is “People Everyday,” and I’m delighted to see that it’s on this album. I can’t say that I know much about Arrested Development, other than that they’re from Atlanta, and I’m happy to see some representation for southern rap on this list. I’m not quite sure what to expect from this album, but I’m guessing that even if it sounds dated, it’ll still be pretty fun. I thought this 3Y5M2D was a really good album, and I enjoyed listening to it. Arrested Development had a lot to offer on this album: excellent sample usage, powerful and socially conscious lyrics, and excellent production. The combination of samples and instruments worked really well on this album, and I really enjoyed the way Arrested Development utilized those samples, crafting a fun and catchy sound. As for the lyrics, they tackled some subjects that I would expect a socially conscious rap album to tackle, like homelessness, poverty, and abortion. But they also tackled some subjects that caught me by surprise, like black Americans’ relationship with Christianity, and the pains of slavery that still exist in the south. Arrested Development took on these issues head-on, skipping past allegories and figurative language, but I thought this approach worked really well for themes of positivity and empowerment. I really enjoyed the way this album was produced too. The vocals were always in the forefront of the mix, with a clean and crisp sound, but the music was still able to do a lot of punching in the overall sound. As much as I enjoyed this album, some songs felt a bit repetitive musically, and some songs were a bit on the boring side, but even the worst parts of this album were still pretty good. As far as my favorite songs on this album are concerned, I really enjoyed “Mr. Wendal,” “Fishin’ 4 Religion,” “Natural,” and “Tennessee.” 3Y5M2D is a really solid album, and as much as I love jamming to something like Straight Outta Compton, this album was a great alternative to something like NWA.

A few classic bops, but not enough pack in the punch to bump to 4-stars for me.

This was great. I didn’t realize all these songs came from this album. I’ve heard a lot of these songs and didn’t realize they were all from the same group, let alone the same album!

Pretty good socially conscious rap album. Verses regarding the beauty of earth and life and god. Uplifting, good beats, and I could see how this would be influential in its time. This era of more socially conscious rap is beautiful, like brand nubian, tribe called quest, jeru the demaja. I do feel as though this group is more godly and family friendly? A lot of the beats remind me of public enemy, so they must have been influenced by them. Pretty cool album though, less black social consciousness and more religious preaching rap? interesting intersection, and especially interesting to me since during this period a lot of Black artists would have been aligned with islam and the black brotherhood sort of mentality, retracing roots to Africa.

I'm generally pretty disinterested in 90s rap, just due to the production and mixing style of the time. And this album falls right into that. I think I don't like it that much because it reminds me of the cringe of some things while growing up (I was born in '95). I do like that this album isn't city/gansta rap. I think that makes it stand out a little more and keeps me a little more interested. And honestly, I love the song "Mr. Wendal". So even though the album leans into a style of production that I don't like, there's plenty to enjoy in listening to it. Favorite Song(s): Mr. Wendal

This listen is one of those 1,001 gifts that I would never have listed to prior, and glad I did. It was a perfect tonic for a dreary Monday at work. Will come back again. Like "Tennessee" the best (maybe I heard that before,,,30+ years ago?)

This was nice

90s alternative hip hop hell yeah

Didn't resonate with me.

This is hip hop that I choose not to compare to its stated genre. I dig Snoop, Tupac, NWA, BDP, Nas, Wu... but I place this album in a rapjacent category with Fugees, De LA Soul... Once I make that distinction this album gets a rating bump. So many of these songs flood back my enjoyment of the album. Mamma, Wendell, Tennessee, Fishing... This was unique stuff that expanded my appreciation of how introducing musical qualities (funk?) to hip hop opens doors to growth. It is not a great hip hop album, but it is a great album. 4 or 5?

Hip hop

I got hit by a car in early 1993, and I was in surgery for 14 hours. When I came to, my aunt visited me and asked me what I wanted as I recovered. I asked for 3 tapes: • The Joshua Tree by U2 • Pocket Full of Kryptonite by Spin Doctors • 3 Years...In the Life of... by Arrested Development I was on some pretty... strong painkillers. Anyway, as I laid in a hospital bed for months, I had my mix tapes, and then these 3 tapes. I remember really liking this album, even if I didn't quite comprehend it at the time. Truthfully, I just wore out side A of The Joshua Tree. I also remember being somewhat upset that "Tennessee" wasn't on side A with "Mr. Wendal" and "People Everyday." We've been spoiled by streaming. There: I said it. 33 years later, I re-listened to it and was shocked by how little I remember of this album. And, here's the thing: it's really good. I have spent a ton of time with the "classic" early 90s hip-hop records, and this one never registers as being part of that set. Maybe because it's not of that "ilk." Maybe because Arrested Development seemingly fell off the face of the Earth after this record. Either way, this reminds me of early Tribe, or VERY early Roots. It's crisp, joyous, and EXTERMELY early 90s. I imagine this album being on constant rotation on the set of "A Different World." THAT 90s. A good walk through a weird time in my life, and a really interesting time in hip-hop. 6/10.

Enjoyable, funky, and smooth. 4/5.

Dripping with rotten, rank cheese, but he lives his life in an outcast tribe, you see? So you just can't relate. You can't relate to the repetitive, awful samples, ridiculously comical mixing/production...oh, and don't forget 9 heaping scoops of MIDI slap bass and whatever other stuff comes out of the keyboard when we turn this knob and hit this button. Leave it in! It's so powerful and spiritual to have harmonicas, harpsichords, clean guitars with a flanger/phaser cranked all the way to the max, and a bunch of record scratching all crammed together like a bunch of unfolded clothes stuffed into the closet before mom comes home and makes sure you cleaned your room. And also make sure to start almost every song by screaming like a cartoon dog who stepped on a rake--SURPRISE! 3 SECOND GUITAR SOLO! Now back to the same 4 MIDI bass notes for another 4 minutes and that poorly cut sample with the noise in the beginning (fuck it, who cares!). If it's going to be all bass and a boom bap, you should make sure that it at least sounds good and isn't mixed like hot ass. But nobody did that here. Nobody seemed to have their ears on when they made this, and that made me sad and angry. Mostly angry. I haven't felt this way in a while, so at least there's that, but I seriously doubt this was what they intended for the listener to feel. But fuckin... "I don't want just a sex partner, a female friend, a buddy, to be played with like silly putty" ...like, really dude? Nobody thought to say, hey, maybe this is dog shit and you should try again? It's one step away from "My name is Darren and I'm here to say: eat your vegetables every day!" Look, this was a tough listen, as close to a DNF as I've gotten so far, and I already listened to fucking Scott Walker 4. This pissed me off. "...except a certain feMALE with all nEW FEAchurrrs, but I knew NOT her NAME" okay dude. "Dawn of the Dreads" might legitimately be the worst rap song I've ever heard - the horribly-mixed, shitty synth bass going "bom - bOM - BIMM" the whole goddamn time, mixed with.......HARMONICA?? and keyboard horn section??? at the end it breaks down into nothing, like they forgot to finish it and had to press the album. it sounds like a Ween song, but not. even. fucking. CLOSE to as good. they just hit a couple keys right next to each other until they liked what they got, and it's...just awful. seriously bad and embarrassing. No fucking wonder it took 3 years, 5 months, and 2 days for them to get signed. Every label they talked to had a brain larger than a peanut. a game of HORSE SHOESSSSSS For something that is supposed to be a statement about empowerment and pride, there is a shocking lack of polish, care, and attention to detail; mostly there is just a whole lot of "I wanna be sleepin' deep in you", which is funny to think about. If I ever passed out with my dong inside someone, they would probably feel really insecure and sad, but also might Narcan me, which would likely be very unpleasant for all involved: I have to tug my slick, half-greasy flaccid weiner out of her dried out vagina, I vomit a little in my mouth and recoil in pain as all my body's endorphins are simultaneously rejected and forced out of my brain - my body reflexively sharts on her gray jersey sheets a little ("I swear I didn't do that on purpose... you just Narcan'd me dude...") - we lock eyes in mutual shame and disbelief, and I order a pizza for delivery - pepperoni and sausage, why not? "...yeah, the apartment on the corner of the house.........sure....yeah, garlic knots.......just marinara is fine.......cash....okay thanks, bye". I look over at her and say "30 minutes" and hear the faint buzz of her vibrator, the mechanical whirring of a silicone-coated little knob. She moans, I again recoil in pain, this time because I am being emotionally and sexually dominated by a lithium-ion battery and $0.06 worth of rubbery plastic. I never should have taken that walgreens benadryl, but she has 4 cats - what else was I supposed to do? 1/5 and by the grace of god I will never hear this again. Wow. I was upset when I wrote this. Umm...the review stands. Maybe not as awful as it reads but, I didn't enjoy this.

I wonder how different the world would be if hip-hop had been more about the vibes than the hoes? I remember the track "Mr Wendell" from a compilation album I had (one of the NOWs maybe - not sure) and always enjoyed it's laid-back nature, but had never thought to listen to the whole album. And now I have, and I enjoyed it very much

Great time capsule album that still sounds good.

Not my favourite genre but this had some surprisingly good grooves on it

Great beats. It lacks a bit of bite. Original sound. Fun album.

literally, the first album I think i ever owned. on cassette tape. all because of Mr Wendell.

not my hiphop

What a gem.

Was ok. Very much of its time & day of release

It was okay - a bit too hip hop for me. but enjoyed some tracks

I mean... soooo good. Not just meaningful, but purposeful and rekindled a rap style that was as funky as George Clinton and as smooth as Mel Torme. I could listen to AD all day.

All the 90s hip-hop albums on here are good, but are starting to sound a little samey.

Fresh sounding and vibrant sounds where rap/ hip hop meets poppy funk with a spiritual yearning. It's a nice (in every sense of nice) alternative to gangsta rap/hip hop and the basic outlook is a positive one and this shines through.

Great album, bright thoughtful hip hop. Reminds me strongly of school.

Joyous anti-gangsta jazy vibe, all gets a bit too earnest and preachy at times though. Not bad, but not great

Woke and proud from a time when Conscious Hip Hop was an effort to move away from gangsta rap to something about being positive, as well as highlighting the shit times people were having day to day. I'm not sure how Sly doesn't get a credit for People Everyday.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there are seven acknowledged wonders of the world. You are about to witness the eighth..." oh yeah, great hip-hop vibes here!

Nope

Won’t be listening.

Christian hip hop? Pretty solid!

Enjoyed this. Good to have some 90s hip hop with a positive message. Does get a but religious in places, but not enough to spoil it.

This is a critically underrated hip-hop album. Sure, they had hits come off this album: "People Everyday", "Mr. Wendell", "Tennessee". More of this album deserved radio play and acclaim. "Mama's Always On Stage" is a proper banger. "Children Play With Earth" is so positive. Every track deserves a second listen. My rating: 5/5 daishikis.

Nope

Meh, mediocre 90s hip hop

This one didn't really stick with me, 3? Not unenjoyable but pretty standard stuff to me

some nice old school hip hop and some pretty lame lyrics in between

Very enjoyable.

This album takes me back in time. I remember going to an amusement park and they had a matador style ride where they played Mr Wendal on a loop. It was such a great time.

#1001Albums 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days In the Life Of... by Arrested Development https://album.link/gb/i/715906160 While the gangsta rappers of the east and west coasts were riding around in gold plated limousines, snorting drugs and occasionally shooting each other, Arrested Development from Atlanta were struggling for over three years just to get a record deal (hence the name of the album). The result is a world away from the gangsta scene, full of deft lyricism, heartfelt spirituality and songs with a social conscience. I actually liked this a lot, certainly enough to listen twice and I think I’ll be going back to it again.

such a fun way to start my day, an iconic album for sure

Wow, somehow had never heard of Arrested Development before, but this album was very fun. It does have a very 80's sound, and seems to contain a lot of (fruitful) experimentation.

Not what I would normally listen to but refreshingly good

I think Arrested Development are generally underappreciated in the grand scheme of things. Huge in the emergence of alternative & Southern hip-hop during the early 90's, when gangsta rap was dominating the west coast of the US. They brought a positive and more self-reflective spin to hip-hop, opting to view things from the lens of the world as a whole. The three singles that spawned from this album are each iconic in their own right and are among my personal favorites (although I do prefer the Metamorphosis mix of "People Everyday"). Middle of the album dips in quality & energy a bit, but that's really my only knock here. It's a shame that this group didn't do much after this album's release, but they made a pretty decent impact with their short time in the spotlight.

Again, some lovely early 90s hip hop.

If I appreciated the genre a little more my review would have lent more positive, instead this is a fairly long album that I found uninteresting. I didn't find it offensively bad at all, just not for me. 2 Stars.

I'm not much of a hip-hop fan, but I can imagine putting this on for pleasure listening. The rapping is clear and usually meaningful. The tracks have more than just beats (which are really good) -- in fact, there's usually a lot mixed in, but it's coherent. Rich stuff here.

3 Years 5 Months And 2 Days / 10

Quite the trip back to 1992, a spectacularly weird time to be a teenager. I absolutely loved the radio hits from this album (Mister Wendel, Tennessee), but had never heard the rest. Such was life in the upper midwest! I'd like to say that Arrested Development was ahead of their time, but that would diminish the contributions of De La Soul and so many others. This is still a unique moment in time and the album, surprisingly, holds up!

25 years since I listened to this. Will probably be another 16.

This is a very spiritual album that involves some funky/jazzy beats. I really enjoyed listening to it and favourites include Mr Wendall and washed away.

i loved this not much else to say. i feel like this group probably has some kind of insane history idk about. ive never heard of them before but i really enjoyed this so I'll probably check out more. it got a little repetitive near the end but i still really liked it and i liked the messages, not to mention the actual music was great which i am very grateful for after the public image album. good album yay

Yeh, this is a vibe and I like. Old school and smooth. Can’t help but bob along and feel the uplift. “Can’t get revolution with women” And of course ‘People Everyday’ oh and ‘Mr Wendal’. Bangers!! Great album, trails off a bit at the end but a great listen.

Is Jason Bateman even on this thing? Hahaha just playing. Really important early 90s hip hop record. Not so much a bygone style as one that morphed and grew into a dozen others.

8/10 This was a pleasant surprise. It hits right in my wheelhouse of hip-hop that has a fun edge to it, along with a good sense of melody. It’s very well produced and there are only hints here and there that make it feel like an album from as far back as 1992. There’s a decent amount of experimentation and depth to the production that helps to lift it away from the pitfall that hip-hop can fall into of becoming overly repetitive. With thin productions, that can become very tiring on the ear, but when, by and large, they thicken things up with a depth of sound and also throw in enough variation between sections and add in extra musical flavour here and there, it rarely drags. I particularly enjoy the amount of singing that they mix in with the rapping, and even the rapping itself quite often has a melodic delivery that’s really nice. There was a good range of tempos across the album, with tracks that barrelled along, like Mama’s Always On Stage, and then the more laid back grooves of People Everyday. The rapping was generally very good and didn’t get stuck in too much of a formulaic rhythm, and some of the backing vocals that supported the lead were often of really high quality. As is so often the case with albums that came out during the CD boom, this is perhaps a little on the lengthy side, and there are there are a few tracks that don’t quite live up to the highlights, but as a whole I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to checking out their other work. Man's Final Frontier - A great little opener. It’s funky and has great pace too. Some quality sample choices and some fun scratching too. It’s very well produced and there’s quite a lot going on too. Definitely a solid way to introduce the record. Mama's Always On Stage - There’s a real melodic edge to even the rapping delivery here and it’s really good. The pace of this absolutely shifts, and it just flows brilliantly from section to section too. It rarely stays on one theme for long, and that keeps it interesting. Another great track. People Everyday - The tempo drops here but it’s got such a cool swagger. I love the original Everyday People, and the sample is given a different inflection with the pace and lilt on the beat that’s really satisfying. The switch between the rapping of the verse and the sung chorus works really well. Blues Happy - An interlude. Not much to say other than that they sound like they’re having a great time. Mr. Wendal - This reminds me quite a lot of De LA Soul. It’s got a really solid groove, and there are some really nice bits of flair to the music here and there that just add a little touch of variation and interest. It does perhaps drag on a little too long, given the main theme is ever present, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. Children Play With Earth - The bass line here is quite fun, but it’s a fairly unfocused track that just drifts into a fairly meandering but of spoken word. It’s just lacking the central thread to pull it through and almost feels half way between a song and an interlude. Raining Revolution - This has got a nice laid back groove, and the blend of singing and rapping is again very good. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer a vast amount of variation or depth to the track for most of its length, so it does drag a little bit. Fishin' 4 Religion - This is solid. It’s got great pace and some interesting cutting of the beats here and there too. There’s a lot of depth to the instrumentation and the backing vocals, making it a rewarding listen. The synth bass sounds comedically dated, but I kind of like it for that. This is half way between a hip hop track and a Prince track, and it’s really good. Give A Man A Fish - This is another cool song. The bass line is good, and the party gang vocals add a different twist to the vibe. The verses perhaps go on a tiny bit too long. The chorus is good too, although there’s a slight disconnect between the parts rhythmically that jars a tiny bit. A pretty decent, bouncing track though. U - This starts with something that’s more like another of those musical interludes, but once it kicks in it’s another really great track. So much pace and a really solid groove between the bass and drums in particular. It’s got a brilliant singing rap to the main vocal, and the bits of backing vocals that drop in here and there are quality too. I couldn’t help but bounce to the groove of this. There were a couple of bits that were a bit on the repetitive side, but there was enough going on that that didn’t really dampen the fun. Eve Of Reality - Another interlude. It’s a nice, calm build though. Natural - I really like the vibe of this, and the verse is really good. The vocal delivery is great and it’s got a nice flow to the music, but when it hits the chorus, the string synths just slightly miss the mark for me. It’s a shame really, because this is a decent chilled out little track otherwise and has a nice bit of pace and feel to the groove. Maybe it’s a minor gripe though as the rest of it is just a great vibe. Dawn Of The Dreads - Something with a bit more swagger now. I really like the lilt to the vocal and the grooves are good. It’s perhaps a little stilting in some of the production and could do with being a little smoother, particularly the drums which stutter a bit too much in places. But it’s still another enjoyable track. Tennessee - This is another good one. Reminds me a little of What I Got by Sublime for some reason. I think it’s just the thrust of the groove. More solid half sung, half rapped vocal delivery. As with much of the rest of the album, this has got me bouncing along to the beats. It’s not as musically rich as some of the other tracks, but it’s got hooks that just grab you and bring you in. Washed Away - This is another that has delivery quite like De La Soul. It’s got a nice vibe to it, but it’s a bit too repetitive for me and doesn’t necessarily add enough depth and range to the instrumentation to give it the range that allows repetitiveness to get a pass, particularly when it goes on this long.

Not bad, I made it all the way through.

A nice hip-hop album with some change of pace from what was the gangsta rap norm at the time. (And "Tennessee" stands as an all-time great single).

On paper I should like this - progressive hip hop. I found it a bit too spiritual and Jesusy. The beats were cool, a real mix of jazz, not often your hear harmonica in hip hop.

This was a good time, I’ve learned that I quite like several kinds of hip hop and a few artists and I really liked this one. I loved “Mr. Wendal”, “Raining Revolution”, and “Give A Man A Fish” in particular but this is an all round good album

fun!

I remember them mostly for the ubiquitous feel-good singles but there is a lot more Public Enemy-level swagger and sonic density to the album than I would've guessed. Dig it.

It’s fun and upbeat to go with its afrocentric grounding. I hear a lot of influence of Sly and the Family Stone, who is recalled in choruses and samples, but also Fishbone, the Native Tongues and I dunno, Rockwell? Songs like “Mr. Wendel” come off sounding a little too chipper for their subject matter, and others feature slap bass and other dated production techniques.

like De La Soul in the positivity and clever samples, minus the humor and in-between song skits. I knew the hits but was pleasantly surprised by the rest.

I really had fun listening to this one. First time I heard it start to finish. The non-hits are as good (if not better) than the hits. I miss this era of hip-hop. So much fun.

A fresh and hopeful record from a time when hip-hop was turning tougher. 𝟥 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝟧 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝟤 𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘖𝘧… blends rap, soul, and folk with a warm, down-to-earth energy. Tracks like 𝘛𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘦 and 𝘔𝘳. 𝘞𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘭 still feel honest and human, full of rhythm and empathy. Maybe it’s a bit too optimistic for some, but that’s exactly what makes it special — it sounds like hip-hop trying to heal rather than fight.

Some great beats and samples, very much a Hip Hop album of its time. A little long but enjoyable.

Интересная группа

моё музло

It was well done

Love. Smooth from the get go.

A classic album, with some great songs not quite a 5 star but almost

The beginning to this album is far stronger than the end, but I loved it throughout. I'm surprised I haven't heard anything from it before Favorite Songs: People Everyday, Tennessee, Mama's Always on Stage

Jákvætt rapp, ferskt, nett og smá kjánalegt. Beatin eru góð mörg hver, textarnir mis hnyttnir en sumir þarna lenda vel. Lifir ágætlega þessi plata, en þetta er samt bronsaldarrapp. 3,4 / 5,0

Mjög hressandi og skemmtilegt. Var að fíla þetta. Ekkert skit bull.

Tennessee is a classic.

I have "Tennessee" in my head pretty much all the time.

nada me pegou, apesar deles terem uma musica p mae solteira oq acho lindo. mas tb foi minha primeira ouvida, e normalmente gosto das musicas depois de ouvir elas mais de uma vez oq é uma pena pq eu não irei ouvir dnv, eu acho.

Pas le plus grand album de hip-hop de l'histoire, mais quand même fort sympathique.

Very uplifting, much different from the hip hop of the same era. It's rhythmic and funky, varied. Even though it probably won't come up very often in my daily listening, I'm giving it 5 stars because it really is a masterpiece. Pairs well with organizing your home.

Never heard of this band or album before. I've no clue what I'm in for going off of this cover. I'm hedging my bets on a weird rock act. Ah, fuck. It's hip-hop, meaning I'm in for... fifty-six minutes of music. Not that bad when considering the established track record, though I've been getting absolutely bent over by these long ass albums lately. This isn't in the top twenty hip-hop albums, so I remain at having heard eleven of the highest-rated albums. Guess I gotta keep soldiering on. Anyways, on with the music. I didn't mind this one all that much. There's an admirable level of ambition to this music with how regularly it hops between differing themes, moods and genres. The vocalist on this album also has a decent flow for this style of music. What really holds this album back for me, however, is the mastering. The muffled, lo-fi sound really does not gel with this music and completely saps whatever kick these song would otherwise have. The bass guitar sounds very close to a MIDI instrumental, which is pretty bleak. Many of the lyrics are also pretty cheesy and uninspired. Granted, at this point I'd rather listen to something puerile and unremarkable over the seminal, heavy-hitter hip-hop albums that I'm constantly being subjected to. "Man's Final Frontier" is decent. The cosmic theming and classic, 90s hip-hop sound is pretty cool. "Eve of Reality" also has a neat sound going for it. I always enjoy when nature sounds are sampled in music, especially when it's paried with an ethereal, otherworldly sound like it is here. "Washed Away" has gotta be one of the worst album closers I've heard. It just goes on forever and is extremely, unimaginably, painfully drab. Book time. A whole lotta nothin in there. Wikipedia reveals that this album was very well received by critics, performed well commercially and marked a changing tide within popular hip-hop music. Yeeeah, I'm snubbing this one. In place of this album, I humbly submit April by Round Table for inclusion on the list.

Enjoyable blast from the past. Tennessee is a great song!

One of the better early 90s hip-hop albums I’ve heard. More sophisticated than some and had a lot of social justice themes.

Jams 3.5/5

No private session used for Spotify. More lighthearted, uplifting and fun then the gangsta rap that was everywhere at the time. Enjoyable listen.

Noble intentions and niceness don’t make for a good record. Wimpy beats and weak hooks mean their sentiments just come across as corny. I respect what they did for Southern hip hop and their groundbreaking win at the Grammys, but even the best songs here just aren’t very interesting.

When this popped up, I remembered owning it and giving it a few plays.. then never listening again. Now I know why: it’s just not very good.

Easy to consume, inoffensive hip hop/rap. I listened to it quite a bit back in the day. For this, I’m neither ashamed nor proud.

There was some interesting stuff on this but I'm not sure i'd listen to it again.

I completely forgot to rate this. And I think that's because I forgot I listened to it.

7,5 of 10. Good albums overall with a couple of great songs, several good and a couple place holders.

Fishin' 4 Religion, U, Dawn Of The Dreads and Washed Away are my standout tracks.

Fun album, preferable above the more agressive hiphop

Not my preferred music, but I enjoyed it. ★★★

Fine for what it is. I imagine it was cool in 1992. 2.7

This is an important and essential record and each track can easily be broken down into social science lessons for children.

86% Best: People Everyday; Mr. Wendal; Fishin' 4 Religion; Give A Man A Fish; Dawn of the Dreads; Tennessee Must-Hear? Sure

Some good tracks. Some boring tracks.

This one has fantastic energy. The rhythms, the rhymes, the messages, all top quality.

This is actually closer to kind of the hip hop that I kind of like soulful and peaceful with an almost jam band in like quality. And for the most part I thought this album was fine and pretty much just that it really didn't move me as much as A Tribe Called Quest did. I think also a lot of the rappers flow on this isn't much different than a lot of the pop rap that was coming around at the time which I didn't hate, i just really didn't pay much attention to it. Some of the backing tracks on this I really kind of got into, but even that I thought was fine. Something I could groove to but without fully immersing myself. All in all I find this a very listenable album something I could return, but nothing that I'm ever going to go ga-ga over. "Give A Man A Fish" is the standout track for me. (7.2) ★★★½

"Dawn of the Dreads" has a really cool beat, the rest is okay, but nothing special really. 3 stars

I'm not super high on this. I think the singles are pretty good, "Tennessee" being the best of them, but I think there's a lot of filler on this album, and a lot of the album is dated and corny in retrospect. I get why this was popular at the time -- it's messaging is very light and positive compared to the hip-hop that dominated the charts at the time -- but I don't think it broke any new ground and I don't think it holds up that well. Light 3 stars.

“The story of a wealthy hip-hop family who lost everything and the one rapper son who had no choice but to keep them all together… it’s Arrested Development.” Pretty cheesy, dated and elevatorish socially conscious hip hop. Best moment are probably Mr Wendal and Tennessee but it all feels like a massively watered down 3 Feet High And Rising. Still better than the last actual two seasons of Arrested Development though.

There's always money IN... THE BANANA STAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

< the Beatles Good beats and whatnot but it goes on too long and I'm just not into super christiany music.

Good album. I'd heard a fair amount of Mr. Wendell, on the radio, and then later got into Tennessee though I probably didn't really get it at the time. Themes of revolution, procreation, spirit. Like all the best rock and roll. Thoughtful lyrics good flow, tight beats. Save your rounds for the revolution. Prescient as shit. Seriously, save your rounds for the revolution tho

I think I'm a little bit too white and non-christian to fully enjoy this album

This wasn’t bad. The singles are good; as are “U” and “Dawn of the Dreads”. This was a fun and enjoyable album. I wonder if the CIA agent responsible for flooding black neighborhoods with crack is also the one who made sure gangsta rap eclipsed positivity rap. That guy was putting in work.

1. frontier - 1.5 2. ztage -1 3. people - 1 4. bluez -0 5. uuendal - 0 6. earth - 0 7. Raining -1 8. Religion - 1 9. Fish - 1 10.U - 1.5 11. Reality -0 12. Natural - 0 13. Dreads - 0 14. Tennessee - 1 15. Away -0

Some decent songs, probably wouldn't call it too stand out. Decent overall

This came out when I was in high school. What fun to revisit it. Joyous, quirky, and unique. I didn’t even remember Fishin’ 4 Religion and that might have been my favorite track this time through.

Brought me back memories of bright colors and watching Real World marathons while doing homework. Loved it!