I love how Usher keeps a straight face while saying "whatever this is, they represented 100% of that"

@seralouise.

4 ай бұрын

hes so fucking funny hahah

@brainrotdotexe

4 ай бұрын

based pfp shoutout yes man

@whoami-eb7cq

3 ай бұрын

😂

@KaaneDragonShinobi

2 ай бұрын

It's...genuinely the best thing you could say to explain them in as few words as possible. I appreciate his eloquence.

@Cdcd165

Ай бұрын

Usher is not saying what you think he is saying. He kept a straight wrist.

Kenyan here. This is important for what I will say next. The title Zingalamaduni which they claim is Swahili doesn't exactly mean Beehive of Culture. It's lost it's meaning because it's been truncated,I assume it's because it would have made the long title even longer. The correct translation would be Mzinga Ya Utamaduni. Just thought I would share.

@corhydron111

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks! This is really ironic and indicative of these guys' lack of real empathy

@josephcorridon9314

4 жыл бұрын

That would honestly be a much better title. Even just reading it, the extra syllables and splitting it up into different words makes it clear that its a different language and not just a made up phrase.

@nifralo2752

4 жыл бұрын

What is a Beehive of Culture ?

@leonardogomez8812

4 жыл бұрын

@@nifralo2752 It's kinda self-explanatory isn't?

@CarlyBoothheartsmovies

4 жыл бұрын

I typed “Zingalamaduni” into Google Translate out of curiosity and it means “it doesn’t matter” in Swahili. That’s... oof.

I have a fondness for 90s afrocentrism, but I can tell you why it died: Hoteps like Speech. No one likes being talked down to, especially when the talk boils down being told you're not the "right" kind of black.

@daelen.cclark

Жыл бұрын

Are there good examples you have of Afrocentrism done right? (Like ones Todd didn’t already mention.)

@louisduarte8763

Жыл бұрын

@@daelen.cclark Marvel's Black Panther?

@nervousallday

10 ай бұрын

@@louisduarte8763 That's more like Afrofuturism

@mackenziegivens6061

7 ай бұрын

Like straight up, _you_ should not be competing with other black folks (or other minorities for that matter) for the right to be seen and heard. But I'll be damned if these types of people can actually get that through their skulls.🤦‍♀️

@EricAKATheBelgianGuy

4 ай бұрын

Nice that you mentioned that. Obviously, it's not the same thing, but coming from the autistic community, there's something similar in terms of hobbies. The idea is that the "right" autistic (and I also don't mind the label, but that's just me) does STEM-related activities/careers. That wasn't me. I was always interested in the arts, history, and the humanities. I couldn't do math and science to save my life.

I guess the guy went with "Speech" because "Lecture" or "Tirade" or "Diatribe" didn't have the same ring to it. Which is a shame, because I think "A Diatribe Called Quest" would have made for a good pun.

@stefanfilipovits21

3 жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣

@QuietM4n

3 жыл бұрын

Tirade seems like a pretty rad MC name honestly

@NJGuy1973

3 жыл бұрын

How about "Harangue" or "Phillipic?"

@jeevithrai7994

3 жыл бұрын

@@QuietM4n I call dibs

@Hammerhead547

2 жыл бұрын

Smarmy asshole fits him almost perfectly.

Arrested Development: This record is gonna go down in history and change the rap game! Narrator: It did not

@pawnhearts8785

4 жыл бұрын

Narrator: I’ve made a huge mistake

@edifiedreader

4 жыл бұрын

(Opens bag that says dead rap career) Well, I don’t know what I expected.

@josephweiss7164

4 жыл бұрын

What's your policy on returning rap albums?

@TheLowBrassDude

4 жыл бұрын

Return from whence you came! *throws album into ocean*

@mabusestestament

4 жыл бұрын

To be fair, it did change the rap game. It changed the rap game by taking this stuff out of the equation.

The best wisdom I ever got from a homeless person, as he pushed his early 1990s GMC blazer up the street because it didn’t have an engine, was “You kids should stop smoking cigarettes and smoke crack instead. It’s way better” He made it up the street, for those who are wondering.

@Sternodox

2 ай бұрын

This is the hardest I've laughed all month. Thank you!!!

One of my pet peeves about songs like Mr. Wendal is that it implies that the reason we need to respect the homeless is that they could be secret geniuses. No, perhaps the homeless guy on my street isn't a guy I'm going to for political advice, but it doesn't mean he doesn't deserve respect.

@grahamkristensen9301

4 жыл бұрын

It's also kind of disturbing when you consider the major problems with mental illness and homelessness. It sounds like someone whose idea of the homeless came from The Fisher King.

@zackschilling4376

3 жыл бұрын

Its the homeless version of the "Mystical/Magical Minority" trope.

@Dark.Shingo

3 жыл бұрын

@@zackschilling4376 "Mystical/Magical Minority" trope, now that's something that makes sense when you think about it.

@xp8969

3 жыл бұрын

That's a pretty weird interpretation of the song, at no point does it ever paint the picture of Mr. Wendel as being some secret genius, it literally describes him as being a regular human being who deserves respect and points out how in spite of what people might assume about homeless people being scary or dangerous or unintelligent or any of the other negative stereotypically assumption people have about the homeless that in reality they are just like anyone else in society who deserves our respect

@bwgti

3 жыл бұрын

Trying to learn to be better human beings from popular music is never going to be the best path.

Honestly, "Warm Sentiments" is even worse than if it were just a misguided anti-choice song. Because it's not about wrongheaded concern for a child who won't exist or personal "well maybe I would have liked to be a dad", it's explicitly all about how not having his baby is an insult to his manhood. Yikes.

@somedragonbastard

Жыл бұрын

Yeah like it's not even about the fetus, the usual figurehead for anti-choice arguments, it's treating her personal medical decision as an insult to HIM.

This episode is like trying to solve a mystery rather than just learning the history of an album, and I love it.

@Seth-hc2bj

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah what a neat departure right?!!

@littlekingtrashmouth9219

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, but I don’t think one album track about a controversial subject is a tanker. It was probably their Afrocentric posturing and dilettantism that finally caught up with them. Still, they were trying something different, and the 90s was the last decade where a popular artist could market themselves on being unique from their peers.

@owenbloomfield1177

4 жыл бұрын

That one track was the key to unlocking what he felt was wrong with the whole thing.

@seymourglass26

4 жыл бұрын

This is a pretty common path for the episodes that aren't about novelty groups, including "One Hit Wonderland," but I still agree that it's a more interesting way to form an argument than just listing facts I could find on wikipedia.

@tylerhackner9731

4 жыл бұрын

@Little King Transformer agreed on the last point. Pop has gotten more homogeneous since then.

"If people have to choose between you and snoop dogg you lose everytime" best line of the review

@TheAdrift

3 жыл бұрын

Right? No shame in losing to the best 😄

Bag: "anti-abortion song, do not open" Todd: * opens it * Todd: ... I don't know what i expected.

@nomobobby

4 жыл бұрын

Maybe an Interesting train wreck...From the title, you'd think its a kid brother writing something WAY out of his depth, accidentally making it funny and failing to make a good point. But its not any kind of entertainingly bad.

@aadityabhattacharya

4 жыл бұрын

That was a good reference.

@willowjohnson8553

4 жыл бұрын

A reference to Arrested Development on the episode about Arrested Development, I see you

@Arcademan09

3 жыл бұрын

@@viktordickinson7844 well any topic can be good material for a song, the problem is you actually need something called "talent" to pull it off. Also, pro tip: just because a song has well intentions that doesn't mean it's automatically good and cannot be criticized

@simona.9730

3 жыл бұрын

@@viktordickinson7844 Okay, misogynist.

"Civilization, are we really civilized" is the 90s version of "Did the man who invented college ever go to college?"

@daredrogers3884

4 жыл бұрын

That makes more sense than what I thought when I first heard that line which was the "We live in a society" meme.

@n3v3rg01ngback

4 жыл бұрын

KDog1265 The people who invented college spent years in ancient libraries reading about geometry and goat breeding. They paid their dues.

@UnfortunatelyTheHunger

4 жыл бұрын

"Did the man who invented college ever go to college?" The first modern university was most likely founded by someone educated in a madrasa, in case anyone is curious.

@TheHeroOfTomorrow

4 жыл бұрын

"We live in a society!"

@renaissanceweeb

4 жыл бұрын

@@UnfortunatelyTheHunger I actually read about the evolution of the Western University, and you can trace it as simply a natural conclusion of the Socratic Academy. In medieval europe they were built by the church in order to train new administrators because the Catholic Church was the whole continent's central megabureaucracy. Thus we have Schools of Accounting and Theology. Kings would contribute as well, as laws became complex and they needed judges and advisors, and thus we have Schools of Law. But in the early modern era, there were a few major waves of humanism, which argued for expanding these universities to teach for the sake of knowledge, and thus include topics that didn't immediately serve the church or the crown. First with the Renaissance, then the Protestant Reformation, and finally the Enlightenment. The Reformation in particular began the practice of universities publishing journals and papers as they could now purchase printing machines. The Renaissance saw Engineering, Art, and Natural Science added to University Curricula. Frederick the Great supported Engineering, Math, and Physical Science especially as he foresaw military theory would need all of these, thus creating the modern Military Academy where you learn both fighting and strategy, and also math and science. The enlightenment was the last great push because from that came the idea that an educated public was good for society, especially in a Republic. So universities in the New World were founded by wealthy donors, and didn't have to answer to a crown or church, and were free to teach Philosophy to turn teenagers into Citizens of a Republic, and invent new fields like Social Science and Smithian Economics. While all this is happening, the Catholic Church has spread the Jesuit Order far and wide. The Jesuits believed that the best way to convert people in Asia was to provide charity for the poor and education for all, so they built schools in the Western tradition, that taught students in their native language, and were designed with local architecture to look as comforting as possible. And that's why China and Korea have Western Universities as old as the 1700s. So to answer, the founder of the first University was not a single person, but a gradual shift by activists to turn Church Schools into institutes of secular education, and a shift in priorities from making good subjects of a king to making good citizens of a democracy.

Speech seems like the type of guy who goes out of his way to make Christmas dinner awkward and unpleasant for everybody by deliberately harping on topics that he knows will cause arguments.

@timmy841212

4 жыл бұрын

He probably did. 😂

@lunabearsong2043

3 жыл бұрын

My dad's sister is like that. She's gross.

@Hammerhead547

3 жыл бұрын

I worked with someone like that, she actually started a fist fight because she went around asking everyone who they voted for in 2016. She rightly got seven bells knocked out of her and was fired for inappropriate behavior.

@daishoryujin95

3 жыл бұрын

"And then there's the issue of aborti-" "Speech, man, you've been at it for 30 minutes, can we just eat dinner in peace?" "No, because I'm vegan and y'all are murderers!" *collective groan*

@SuperJNG18

3 жыл бұрын

@@daishoryujin95 "Oh, I'm sorry, is my knowledge making you UnCoMfOrTaBle?"

"After I scold you, I hope I can mold you" sounds creepy af

@nejdalej

3 жыл бұрын

I know right? Like "I'm going to mould you by coercing you to give birth to my child, because you choosing an abortion wounds my ego." That's some emotionally abusive shit right there, get out of that relationship, Speech's imaginary girlfriend.

@TELMEman

3 жыл бұрын

"Warm Sentiments" indeed… Eugh

@seamusburke639

3 жыл бұрын

That's what you say to the 18 year old ward that you plan to marry when she's "ripe" enough (ugh).

@fireflocs

3 жыл бұрын

That line is literally presenting control and abuse as warmth.

@lizzybethnj617

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly it sounds like grooming

AD: "We're not preachy" Speech: "After I scold you, I hope I can mold you" That has the same energy as "If you're going to say I play favorites, it's not true. I love all my children equally." *10 minutes earlier* "I don't care for Gob..."

@exquisitecorpse__

2 жыл бұрын

Perhaps both the Rap Group and the show had more in common than we thought

@gabe_s_videos

2 жыл бұрын

Y'know which kind of people are the most preachy? People who say they're not preachy. To paraphrase a much better rap group, "You don't flex nuts if you know you got 'em."

@BvousBrainSystems

Жыл бұрын

I love how easily you can roast Arrested Development by quoting Arrested Development.

@hiimemily

10 ай бұрын

​@@gabe_s_videos Stands to reason. No one calls themselves "not preachy" unless someone else has called them preachy.

@NFSF1McLaren

8 ай бұрын

​@@BvousBrainSystemshell the creators of the show even did that after the group sued them for the use of the name in one episode

If there's one trope I can't stand, its the idea of the "Wise Homeless Man." I've spent time with the homeless in my city, talking, taking photographs and observing in order to get a better understanding of the homeless problem we have here, and the overwhelming majority were not wise, they were mentally ill, addicted, poorly educated and discarded by a society that they could not fit into and did not help them. These songs that go "I spoke to a homeless man and he taught me a lot about life's simple meanings" is not only untrue, it's insulting to homeless people by acting like their terrible situation that they should be helped out of is somehow noble. That's why "Mr. Wendal" was just as disgusting to me as Speech's horrible sexism later on. "Mr. Wendal" does not have freedom, Speech. He is not free. He is oppressed and victimized. Don't preach about racism and hatred when you yourself are taking this group of people and using them as a mouthpiece from your place of privilege.

@ridleysomeliana-lauer5814

4 жыл бұрын

Holy fuck. Thank you.

@nicholaskelly9752

4 жыл бұрын

Well said!

@Scorpia161

4 жыл бұрын

That bothered me too! Poverty isnt romantic, it's systemic failure!!

@Sgtpepper1019

4 жыл бұрын

A fantastic analysis, big tiddy waitress- homeless people should not be used as props or pawns, objects of pity. Homeless people are one of the groups that are so talked about without ever getting to speak themselves. Of course, if they did speak up the spell would be broken and we would likely feel defensive, or threatened. One can only hope we focus on affordable housing, rehabilitation, and mental health care instead of caricaturing the homeless further.

@grahamkristensen9301

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, Mr. Wendell definitely comes off like it was written by someone whose only experience with the homeless is watching The Fisher King.

This is the first Trainwreckords where I know absolutely nothing about the artist being dissected and now that I’ve seen it I can completely understand why they have been written out of existence

@jaredlow4362

4 жыл бұрын

There are few things more brutal than Todd reaching the Eureka moment of the vid and doing a supercut of all their condescension in both their public speeches and lyrics, like wow

@SkorpTS

4 жыл бұрын

Same for me. I was wondering how such a massively successful album could lead to being forgotten so quickly, but it seems their preachiness aged about as well as milk.

@viscountrainbows6452

4 жыл бұрын

The pioneers of Get Woke Go Broke

@andysorensen1737

4 жыл бұрын

Jared Low Like JK, I came in cold. The first half of the video was basically “They’re pretty solid; I probably would’ve bought that first album.” Todd kicks in with the criticisms and then its “Oh, oh, I get it now.” Also, there’s always money in the banana stand.

@johnenigma8506

4 жыл бұрын

They made a slight comeback in 2016. EDIT Narrator: He confused the band with A Tribe Called Quest.

If "Stop trying to make fetch happen" was an album.

@shaunandthebugs

4 жыл бұрын

Stop trying to make Speech happen

All the Tranwreckords organized in categories: Bizarre, Hilarious Experiments: Cyberpunk The Funky Headhunter Killroy Was Here Two the Hard Way Passage Mission Earth Just Plain Mediocre: Fairweather Johnson Zingalamaduni American Life Be Here Now Turn it Upside Down Crash Absurdly Terrible: Summer Paradise Cut the Crap 0304 Mardi Gras Van Halen III Funstyle St. Anger American Dream Morally Reprehensible: MTV Unplugged 2.0 Paula Total Faceplant: Witness Lost and Found

@kylehegedus5498

4 жыл бұрын

I think “Summer Paradise” should be under Bizarre, Hilarious, Experiments. 😂😂😂😂😂

@roddorfj

4 жыл бұрын

Trainwreckords ranked from most to least positive on the album itself: The Funky Headhunter Paula Cyberpunk Fairweather Johnson Zingalamaduni Kilroy Was Here American Life Mardi Gras Be Here Now 0304 Cut the Crap Van Halen III Summer in Paradise MTV Unplugged 2.0

@mattlanguedoc8634

4 жыл бұрын

Zingalamaduni is definitely obnoxious with its self-righteousness, but it doesn't make me feel as ugly listening to it as Paula or MTV 2.0 (except for that one abortion song). In hindsight, 0304 probably belongs in the first category, although its not as fun as Funky Headhunter or Cypberpunk. I would argue that a rock opera about futuristic Japanese robots is definitely bizarre and pretty hilarious.

@TSFboi

4 жыл бұрын

Morally Reprehensible are my faves.

@thehopeofeden597

4 жыл бұрын

I would switch summer paradise and Paula. Paula is bad for the theme of it, and what surrounds it but there are good songs on there.

Biggest takeaway I got from this video: basing your band's entire existence around "I'm not like other girls" is a surefire way to kill people's interest in you VERY quickly.

@iversiafanatic

Ай бұрын

Holy shit. You predicted doja cats flop era

"I ask you, Lord why you enlighten me, without the enlightenment of all my folks" Holy shit they pretty much straight up said "I am smarter than other black people" that's quite possibly the most WTF lyric I've heard from this series, and there's plenty of competition for that title.

@WobblesandBean

2 жыл бұрын

Right?? My god, I'm white and even I wanted to throttle him through my phone screen.

@morganqorishchi8181

2 жыл бұрын

I'm not white but I am Central Asian, and I tried to imagine what my reaction would be if someone else who was from my ethnic group said it. And the answer is I would be deeply embarrassed to be from the same continent, and I would be torn between punching them and cringing so hard I fell over.

@timmy841212

Жыл бұрын

That’s one of the most ignorant lyrics I ever heard

@SuperJNG18

Жыл бұрын

It’s not even from this album! It’s from their MOST FAMOUS SONG!

@DestinyKiller

Жыл бұрын

I noticed that too, it should have been an early warning on how much Speech loved himself and the sound of his own voice instead of listening to others' voices

"We're not against gangster rap" Narrator: "They were"

@nelumboandrews6762

4 жыл бұрын

News reel edit: "we're" "against gangster rap"

@theblocksays

3 жыл бұрын

Can't you tell by their complete lack of Oakland Raiders gear? LOL

@TimmyTickle

2 жыл бұрын

@@theblocksays Or Atlanta Falcons gear?

This album reminds me of those people who say "Good Vibes" 24/7 but have the worst attitude towards others for not sharing their ideology

Let's tell the truth. Arrested Development didn't truly deserve all the accolades. They were good. It was bumping in my neighborhood at the time, but they truly only got award boosts because The Industry wanted to try to bury The Chronic. The Chronic was bigger than big on the streets. It was gigantic. It inspired more vitality, more fanship, more musicians by far. But the industry did not want to tag awards to dope smoking shottas.

@afterdinnercreations936

Жыл бұрын

The Chronic scared your parents. Arrested Development were like a more-hip "Gullah Gullah Island"

@paisleepunk

Жыл бұрын

​@@afterdinnercreations936ok that's an insult to "gullah gullah"

@calmbbaer

10 ай бұрын

Todd and your assertions about The Chronic are demonstrably false, at least with regard to the Grammys. The Chronic and its singles were all put out after the time cut-off for that year's Grammy Awards. "Deep Cover," the so-called "first single," was a soundtrack cut that never appeared on The Chronic, and barely made a dent on the charts. It wasn't scaring anyone. The Chronic and its singles weren't eligible until the Grammys that took place in 1994. Dre won for solo rap single, and, when put head-to-head with Arrested Development for duo/group, they both lost to Digable Planets. Sure, that could be used as evidence that the mainstream "wanted to bury" gangsta rap, although the way I'd put it is that it just didn't resonate with Grammy voters. But, no matter what way you put it, it wasn't Arrested Development that blocked Dre from the accolades. They buried Kris Kross, House of Pain, the more disappointing releases of the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy. (Who remembers all those guys, am I right?) If you're looking beyond the top award to critic lists, the top critics list in the US is the Pazz and Jop list, where, once again, timing means that Dre and Development never went head to head, appearing in 1993 and 1992, respectively. Another factual error in the video is that "Cop Killer" had no rap. It was a metal song, sung and spoken, not rapped.

@calmbbaer

10 ай бұрын

[Since KZread seems to be truncating the previous comment,] The Chronic and its singles weren't eligible until the Grammys that took place in 1995. Dre won for solo rap single, and, when put head-to-head with Arrested Development for duo/group, they both lost to Digable Planets. Sure, that could be used as evidence that the mainstream "wanted to bury" gangsta rap, although the way I'd put it is that it just didn't resonate with Grammy voters. But, no matter what way you put it, it wasn't Arrested Development that blocked Dre from the accolades. If you're looking beyond the top award to critic lists, the top Critics list in the US is the Pazz and Jop list, where, once again, timing means that Dre and Development never went head to head, appearing in 1993 and 1992, respectively.

@calmbbaer

10 ай бұрын

Another factual error in the video is that "Cop Killer" had no rap. It was a metal song, sung and spoken, not rapped.

Let's overcome racial stereotypes, says a song enforcing the "Magical Negro" trope.

@MixMasterLar

4 жыл бұрын

The 90s was a wild time dawg

@meowtherainbowx4163

4 жыл бұрын

I don’t look at Arrested Development (as a white man if that matters to you) as though they’re being anything other than part of the whole pan-African identity. I think it’s kind of silly considering how many different peoples live in sub-Saharan Africa, but it was just how they saw themselves and their people, wasn’t it? At worst, it’s insulting to people actually born in Africa, and even then, I’m not the best person to judge since I don’t speak Swahili or recognize any of their costumes. If anyone thought they represented blacks in general, it was either because they were really swept up in the movement of Afrocentrism or because they themselves were racist.

@corhydron111

4 жыл бұрын

Someone from Kenya commented below saying that Zingalamaduni doesn't even mean beehive of culture. The original phrase is, you know, a whole phrase, and is longer. So they just truncated it to sound better and more e x o t i c. Which, if that's not internalized prejudice then I don't know what is.

@rachelhallie7483

4 жыл бұрын

@@meowtherainbowx4163 As someone who is also white, and therefore my opinion on this matter obviously may not amount to much, it also confuses me too. For what it's worth, I have seen a number of Africans complain about African-Americans promoting this image of a homogeneous African culture (I mean, even the hotep word and symbology is derived from Egypt, which has a complicated history with sub-Saharan civilizations to say the least) or using bits and pieces of African culture for the aesthetic. Of course, that alone is complicated, because most black Americans were forcibly (and irreparably) separated from their African roots, meaning they can't embrace a specific African culture. But black Americans also created a rich, unique culture of their own, from jazz to soul food to rock-n-roll to Lousiana creole to hip hop, much of which is not solely rooted in pain. There is so much to celebrate in that identity, so why try to distance yourself from it? That line about a n***a getting beat by an African was a lil...idk, something about it made me uncomfortable.

@n3v3rg01ngback

4 жыл бұрын

Follow Rafiki! He knows da wey!

Yeah turning into the guy soapboxing in front of the campus cafeteria that - even if you agree with some of what they're saying - prompts you to preemptively dig your ear buds out of your pocket to avoid getting roped into a one-sided conversation as you pass on the way to lunch seems like the death knell of a musical act.

@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley

4 жыл бұрын

Your comment makes me happy I went with community college/technical college instead, lol.

@fangal12

4 жыл бұрын

NEVER ACCEPT THE BEAN PIE!

@tylerhackner9731

4 жыл бұрын

@Fluffymister Same community college is the best

@achair650

4 жыл бұрын

Now that you put it that way- this band is just like my dad, yikes!!

@Absenteeee

4 жыл бұрын

damn i felt that comparison

They've got some bops but they absolutely drip with this weird activist elitism, so I kinda get why they aren't remembered so kindly. Preaching about unity while shitting on your own for not having the opportunities you've had or not being socially conscious in "the right way" is not a good look and did not age well.

@cremetangerine82

3 жыл бұрын

Word! You can be conscious without being condescending.

@TheAdrift

3 жыл бұрын

Right? And I really have to wonder how certain lines looked even at the time… the one that got me the most was “I ask you Lord, why you enlighten me /without the enlightenment of all my folks?” OMFG that is the most condescending thing I have ever heard dropped so casually into a song. “Dear God, how come everyone else in the world sucks, but I’m so awesome?” 🙄

@alabama100

2 жыл бұрын

It’s the same thing racist people use to justify saying the n word lol. They say that the word “N****r” describes a wannabe gangster of any race, not all black people

@kenrickeason

2 жыл бұрын

You nailed it!!

@kenrickeason

2 жыл бұрын

@@cremetangerine82 YES!!!! If Speech wasn't an a hole people like Snoop Dogg would have worked with them.. You don't put down people who didn't come from the same places you did or think the way you do.. I always believed in working with people with different genres of different styles of music or flow.. you help them see what you see and they help you see what they see..

I think Afrocentrism died down after the 90s because it was ultimately a REALLY misguided movement. I grew up in it. I was around 8 when the Malcom X movie came out, that was my favorite actually at the time. I loved Revolution, the title track song Arrested Development made for the movie and had a Shawnie doll, etc. It was a HUGE movement that kind of is lost in time but the things everyone is talking about now were talked about in that movement. It died off quickly because of the need for it to be rooted in African culture when really by that point in history African Americans had a separate culture. True it was a culture built out of slavery thus containing problematic aspects of it but yeah a lot of dashikis were fakes made in sweatshops overseas and had zero African authenticity. I know a lot of Africans, white and black and I have asked them if they think of African Americans as being African and each has said no. They think of us as Americans that ancestors were Africans. I look back on that time of my life fondly, I loved the music of that time, the movies. I honestly think that's why gangster and conscious based rap became what we know of rap and Afrocentrism just died off because even though it all addressed social cultural issues in those other genres there was no great romanticism of Africa. I am half black and not an ounce Swahili...so there is something unauthentic about just saying a Swahili word and saying, "Yeah this speaks to all of black America" because quite frankly it doesn't. And Swahili is Eastern African not Western African like MOST African Americans are. So it was kind of...fake. It also really misrepresented African culture and I think that is why we get tension from black Africans. There are hundreds if not thousands of different cultures in Africa. So to take a word from one culture, an article of clothing from another, a traditional hair style of another is...offensive. Imagine the hellfire that would come down if a person dressed someone in a Kimono, gave them some trendy Korean phrases, and had them wear a traditional Chinese hairstyle and then said, "Look this is what is to be Asian!" That wouldn't be technically wrong but it would be crazy offensive to not acknowledge that there are different cultures and ethnicities within what we refer to as the Asian race. So it was a movement that meant well...it just tried too hard.

@ghostofabulletproducciones5748

4 жыл бұрын

A comment listed below talked about how the title of the album seems to be badly translated. That kinda shows that one of the problems of the movement was that it felt that the people behind it didn't knew a lot about the culture they claimed to represent.

@ethansloan

4 жыл бұрын

I agree wholeheartedly. It begs the question, how far removed from a culture does one have to be before use of that culture's signifiers becomes "appropriation"? I've heard lots of people in Ireland really hate American tourists going over to "discover their roots." Growing up in the 90s as a white kid in the incredibly white Portland, Oregon (it is still the whitest major city in the US, and despite what all the hipsters want you to believe, both the city and state have a long and ongoing history of racism), there was a lot of Afrocentrism taught in school as a way to "teach about other cultures." At the time, it seemed kind of odd, because none of the black kids had any more understanding of things like Anansi the Spider than I did, so I didn't get how Africa was their culture. In hindsight, I understand that it was an easy way for white people to avoid acknowledging the history of African Americans, because white people don't look good in it. "Should we talk about slavery, the Lost Cause narrative, institutionalized racism, and red-lining?" "Nah, lets form a drum circle and have the kids chant some random Swahili words!" I can totally see the white people in charge of the media as being incredibly eager to latch on to the Afrocentrism bandwagon because it didn't offend anyone they cared about (re: white people). Yes, on the surface gansta rap was offensive because they cussed and arguably glorified gang culture, but I think what really pissed off white boomers was that it acknowledged racial inequalities were still an ongoing problem. White folks in the 90s weren't having that shit; they solved racism in the 60s by playing Bob Dylan records or something. And now some young thugs were going on MTV and saying white people hand't made their lives better? "Who do they think they are? Should we, boomers, debate the merits of their arguments, requiring us to learn about a non-white American culture?" "Nah, let's just complain to our congressman about the foul language. And if anyone accuses us of being racist, we can point them to Arrested Development. They're black, but not in a scary way."

@harmonicajay91

4 жыл бұрын

As a white guy, this was really interesting to learn about and... yeah, these guys were pretty much talking out of their asses. It honestly feels like cultural appropriation, though I am not sure if that term really applies here.

@nate567987

4 жыл бұрын

It is roots all the good and bad

@DeadpoolX9

4 жыл бұрын

Nah fam they didnt try hard enough to find what really spoke to them in this day and age instead of wistfully thinking of a bygone dream. I'm south asian and I think my culture is going through the same thing rn. And honestly I dont even know where to start with the Asian American stuff. The simple answer is to copy it off African Americans and tbh that's what most of them do but it feels disingenuous to me. Well if yall can do it then I sure as hell can try.

I'm not black but their whole tone re: gangsta rap is giving me war flashbacks to women who complain that there wouldn't be so much sexism if other women would just stop dressing skimpily and "respect themselves."

@nomobobby

4 жыл бұрын

Ugh, sounds like the excuses people make when somebody big gets busted fooling around. Giving the girl 100% of the shit doesn't do anything to address the fact that it takes TWO people to tango. The man always has the ability to push her away if she's the one making unwanted advances. But he didn't do that. He FAILED to resist the temptation to cheat, making it equally his problem. And its nothing less than 50/50 his fault and vice versa. It's cowardly to paint the woman as the scarlet letter to get out of the fact he willingly participated in the affair, and even worse when woman reinforce the myth of the "Temptress and her completely blameless victim" And if you can't control yourself whenever you flash a boob as a grown man then you, the man, need serious psychological therapy. Not her. The only time I'd criticize a women's fashion is if its inappropriate for the time and place.

@Aster_Risk

4 жыл бұрын

Absolutely. One of the worst things about being a woman is having to deal with other women who hate women.

@mackenziegivens6061

2 жыл бұрын

Hey, it's not our fault ass-wipes can't keep it in their pants.

@somedragonbastard

Жыл бұрын

Respectability politics, the bane of any social movement. No oppressor is going to give us our rights because we made ourselves more palatable to them

Funny story: I tried singing Mr. Wendal at karaoke once. I remember liking the beat and I was looking for something softer to sing after blowing out my voice with Iron Maiden and The Offspring. I got to the line "and to think, blacks go to these big colleges and still come out confused" and realized I was too white to keep singing.

@cmbeadle2228

4 жыл бұрын

And fittingly, that's the set up for one of the funniest arrested development gags, where they repeatedly sing "afternoon delight" in karaoke with their own family members, to the horror of the crowd.

@TheTonyahawk

4 жыл бұрын

@@ScorpionViper1001 Yep I learned my lesson with Little Girls by Oingo Boingo, wow what an inappropriate song to sing in front of people stopped mid song and changed it.

@danieldaniels7571

4 жыл бұрын

Foxrider Scorpion I completely get away with Brown Sugar, but my affinity for brown sugar is more than a little known in the Phoenix / Scottsdale karaoke community

@lunaitc

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheTonyahawk I would think the point you realize something's wrong with singing "Little Girls" in front of people is somewhere around the first line.

@QJ89

4 жыл бұрын

So this is an undeserved classic?

Arrested Development? They represented this: ✊ Whatever this is ✊, they represented 100% of that.

@JiaSkateTeam

3 жыл бұрын

HA

@shawnfields2369

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, they sure did. Represent that. Whatever that is supposed to be, they represent it, 100% of it.

@snapchatsnacks3154

3 жыл бұрын

I agree

@Shadamyfan-rs8xc

3 жыл бұрын

Fist pump! ✊

@josephcorridon9314

3 жыл бұрын

It's such an absurdly good burn I'm in awe.

That New York Magazine article might have put it best: “It’s always easier to dance to a song than a sermon.”

@daelen.cclark

Жыл бұрын

That’s quite the good line. Remember what article that was from? I want to know what to search.

@Hazztech

Жыл бұрын

Which is hilarious because actual black church music goes hard

@Laurabeck329

4 ай бұрын

@@HazztechI swing dance and gospel songs are in a regular rotation at our socials. Joshua fit the battle of jericho is a banger

@Hazztech

4 ай бұрын

@@Laurabeck329 got any other good ones?

Narrator: Todd had decided to review "Zingalamaduni" in the hopes of understanding why the album failed so badly. *Warm Sentiments plays* Narrator: It didn't take long for Todd to find his answer.

@shawnfields2369

4 жыл бұрын

Narrator: then, Todd wondered what his next episode of "Trainwreckords" would be. But before that, Todd regretted listening to more of "Arrested Development", and to quote: "had made a huge mistake". Todd had found his answer, but the songs "People Everyday", (the other song he played), and "Tennessee" were still good songs, even if the group that made them, came off as elitist assholes.

@simoneidson21

2 жыл бұрын

Honestly if “Warm Sentiments” was a bit less creepy and controlling it wouldn’t be so weird. It’s not really anti abortion or misogynistic, it’s simply a song about wanting to talk about something life changing before one person making such a big decision

They later tried to sue the show ‘Arrested Development’ because, as Mr Speech put it: “The use of our name by Fox is not only confusing to the public, but also has the potential to significantly dilute what the 'Arrested Development' name means to our fans.” If you say so, Speech. The show made reference to this little dispute with the band Motherboy in the episode of the same name.

@the-NightStar

4 жыл бұрын

Wow. This whole story Todd painted started to show how Speech might be kind of an elitist douche. But this? This is a douchebag-carpet bombing. What an asshole.

@ends15

4 жыл бұрын

Well as a fan of both, when I read the title my mind went straight to the show, which I love... but he could've been right. I hear the name and dont think of the group

@cartmann94

4 жыл бұрын

That lawsuit was Bryan Adams levels of douchebagggery.

@mazzb305

4 жыл бұрын

Well I mean the band did exist first, and there's this little thing called intellectual property.

@awzthemusicalreviews

4 жыл бұрын

@@mazzb305 It's the same reason the National Wrestling Alliance never tried to sue Eazy-E, while the World Wildlife Fund sued Vince McMahon. You technically can sue somebody for using a combination of words/letters even if they have nothing to do with you and come from a completely different medium, but it's a dick move to do so. He could have chosen to ignore it.

The fact that Dionne Farris is better known for a being a one-hit wonder from the chick-rock scene than she is for being the woman from Arrested Development, really shows how much anyone cared about AD after the second album tanked them, it was like they never existed

@1000huzzahs

Жыл бұрын

It's true, I knew Dionne Farris for "I Know" from "Wild Seed - Wild Flower" - I remember when that song came out - I had no idea she was in AD til this video.

@nervousallday

10 ай бұрын

@@1000huzzahs She had pretty decent R&B hit with "Hopeless" also. Pretty good song.

@timmy841212

9 ай бұрын

Pretty much.

Honestly, there's a reason why a gangsta rapper like Tupac can be socially conscious while also being way more successful in life and in death than Arrested Development ever will. Pac approached the issues facing black America with a strong sense of empathy that Arrested Development (more specifically Speech) just couldn't pull off. Whatever insightful thing the group may have said was brought down by the constant soap-boxing and browbeating at anyone who didn't fit their image.

@kissconsider

2 жыл бұрын

100% agreed. As a kid, we always saw these people as the cornballs shouting on 125th St about the "white devils" and laughed. The Boondocks actually parodies this type of conscious brother in the 1st season; the type of person who thinks if you don't wear the garb or speak the exact lingo you dont deserve the same respect. No one will ever truly listen to that person, even if theyre right you dont want them to be

@gabe_s_videos

2 жыл бұрын

"Empathy" is the key word there. I can't speak much about Pac myself since I haven't listened to a lot of his music, but I have always found that entertainment that tries to be socially conscious is always best when it focuses on humans instead of humanity, on basic morals rather than hard-and-fast rules. When you're speaking on behalf of a specific lifestyle, philosophy or political view, it's no longer noble goals and more about dictating what's objectively right and wrong, and whatever you may think about that, the fact is it doesn't work. I heard someone put it best recently: nobody cares whether or not you're right.

@TheAngryXenite

Жыл бұрын

@@gabe_s_videos There's a similar line from Dostoevsky. "The more I love humanity in general the less I love man in particular...As soon as anyone is near me, his personality disturbs me and restricts my freedom. In twenty-four hours I begin to hate the best of men: one because he’s too long over his dinner, another because he has a cold and keeps on blowing his nose..." When you spend your life up there on the soapbox, you tend to think of people more as reflections of your Truth than as individuals who are valid in their own right. You can't really find it in yourself to love others when you're constantly comparing them to perfection and finding them wanting, and that lack of connection to real, living human beings makes you seem condescending and callous.

@blackdragon6

7 ай бұрын

That's a fair observation, but this wasn't just limited to Arrested Development tho. A lot of conscious rappers fell into the trap of respectability politics.

"The Fugees spent decades embarrassing themselves." Ouch. That hurt. Its true though. The Score is my favorite rap album.

@luvmenow33

4 жыл бұрын

Definitely top 5 no doubt. Still bump it all the time.

@LAZY-RUBY

4 жыл бұрын

I dunno much about the Fugees. What did they do that was so embarassing?

@jaredlow4362

4 жыл бұрын

@@LAZY-RUBY Wyclef Jean was caught running scams of charities, while Lauryn Hill had her own Trainwreckord and Pras is noted in HIS OHW

@dw89music73

4 жыл бұрын

Like Wyclef Jean screaming like he had a mental disability on the 2010 remake of "We Are The World" and Lauryn Hill having an emotional breakdown recorded and filmed for MTV's Unplugged. Don't know about Pras Michel, though.

@SuperJNG18

4 жыл бұрын

@@dw89music73 So one member has been on Trainwreckords and another has been on One-Hit Wonderland. I guess Wyclef needs to put out a new hit single and they'll each have an episode in one of Todd's three main shows. (Technically, if you count We Are the World 25, he does have an episode).

More than anything, this just seems like a group that the mainstream needed just one album from, and absolutely no more

@prometheustv6558

4 жыл бұрын

Diamond Axe Studios Music So I guess they would be in One Album Wonderland.

@samanteater

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, Tennessee is one of my favorite songs ever, but they're a group that really overstays their welcome. Also, Best of 1975 list when?

@crazyluigi6664

4 жыл бұрын

Maybe an EP also, judging from what Todd was saying earlier on. Granted, EPs aren't as successful for artists as regular albums or LPs are, but still.

@thwiftlythwept7023

4 жыл бұрын

They were in the right place at the right time. The mainstream music commentariat hugged then stoned them to death. On the other hand, Imma be pedantic and say the mainstream doesn't need anything - shit just happens and people try to capitalize. The commentariat tends towards reaction not vision. Given Mr Wendel its surprising they made it so far.

@aluminumcurtain

4 жыл бұрын

@@johnbacon4997 You're REALLY proud of that observation aren't you?

This whole album screams "I'm 14 and this is deep"

@mackenziegivens6061

2 жыл бұрын

So, any given CW show?

@SiRenfield

Жыл бұрын

@@mackenziegivens6061 You leave Crazy Ex Girlfriend out of this! /hj

@SiRenfield

Жыл бұрын

Specifically that fourteen year old on Twitter or Tumblr that’s well-intended but in practice lacks the proper wisdom to convey their point

@mackenziegivens6061

Жыл бұрын

@@SiRenfield Sorry, let me rephrase: any given Arrowverse show.

@SiRenfield

Жыл бұрын

@@mackenziegivens6061 Eh yeah I was jossing earlier but yeah sounds about right

Speech feels like the 90's equivalent to those talking heads on Twitter who go on 10 tweet rants anytime anything happens in the news

@dtxspeaks268

Жыл бұрын

​@@jadedheartsz more like a 90s rapper version of Umar Johnson or Brother Polight

@dtxspeaks268

Жыл бұрын

@@jadedheartsz yeah imagine Speech but way more militant, anti white and condescending. Oh and Polight is a kid groomer

Todd: they even had a spiritual advisor. Advisor at 2:55 : drinks straight out of a bottle at a award show. Me: what kind of spirits was he advising them about

@elmonko5068

4 жыл бұрын

Looks like schnapps to me

@jesusperez-arteaga5437

3 жыл бұрын

@@elmonko5068 I think that’s vodka

@ChrisTopher-id4mz

Жыл бұрын

Rasputin intnsifies

@uglyaniimals

Жыл бұрын

LMFAO IVE WATCHED THIS REVIEW AT LEAST 5 TIMES AND NEVER NOTICED THIS, absolute gold

My dad was a pilot back in the 90's, and once had the misfortune of having this band on his plane. Speech felt the need to grill the copilot about his salary, his racial identity and if he'd gotten his pilot's license via Air Force service, and then went off on a tangent about racism in the Air Force as if the man should feel bad for having ever joined/was guilty by association. My dad had to make up a reason to call the copilot back to the cabin because Speech *would not stop*. He was super deadset on making this black pilot feel bad for how he lived his life and it was incredibly uncomfortable for everyone involved. I literally never heard a song by this band until now. I just knew them as "the band with that jackass lead singer and the album with a foreign name". Nice to know I didn't hallucinate their existence, but ugh, Speech's ego is just unrelenting throughout this.

@orlandowilsondasousamelim4447

3 жыл бұрын

Ah yes fighting for black people by attacking black people truly revolutionary

@SunyCartoons

3 жыл бұрын

Wow, he sounds like such an asshole

@redrj

3 жыл бұрын

yeesh, sounds like a twitter verified user, the kind that won't stfu about white privilege. wouldn't be surprised if that's the case

@aldenmartin623

3 жыл бұрын

I wonder if he regrets acting like this now, nearly 30 years later.

@TayTayMakesBeats

3 жыл бұрын

That's a big problem with activistm in general. It attracts a lot of people who disguise their ego stroking as altruism. In reality they're just like the people they claim to be fighting, desperate to tell others how to think and act. Rewarding themselves for treating other people as inferior. Fighting for a good cause is great but you have to keep yourself out of the equation.

The fact that they got booked to promote this album on Letterman's show says something to me. Either someone in AD's management did that to them on purpose to try and stop this album from being bought... Or Speech predicted Dave would find the title fodder for his "repeat funny-sounding words" shtick and had a lecture all primed and ready to go about his mangled Swahili non-word.

Todd never finishes the connection, but it seems SUPER obvious to me that the reason Arrested Development is completely ignored when people nowadays tell the story of hip hop is because their attitude regarding gangster rap and their preachy soapboxing that come off as telling the rest of the genre to be the "right" kind of black means everybody hated them. History is written by the winners, and the winners sure didn't like Arrested Development.

@brycemcneil4404

10 ай бұрын

"History is written by the winners and the winners sure didn't like Arrested Development." Described accurately with a surgeon's precision.

@Cdr2002

9 ай бұрын

Great summation

@spankypants2793

8 ай бұрын

It's crazy this is still lost to conscious rappers and their fans

@duyanhng8430

7 ай бұрын

the crazy thing is conscious rap is still going strong, arguably the strongest ever with Kendrick Lamar

@souvikdeb808

7 ай бұрын

It is mostly their respectability politics that rubbed me in a wrong way. No wonder even conscious hiphop nerds don't remember them much.

I feel like this part hip-hop inspired most of the Parappa the Rapper universe.

@williameyelash8053

4 жыл бұрын

Hahaha you're not wrong though

@drakkenmensch

4 жыл бұрын

Parappa: Crack the egg! Crack-crack the egg! Speaker: No don't crack the egg because that's a discussion both of us should have! *U rappin' AWFUL!*

@Antonio_Ortiz

4 жыл бұрын

*LOVE THIS COMMENT*

@Pellbort

4 жыл бұрын

Lines from Parappa still get spoken around my house on the weekly.

@MixMasterLar

4 жыл бұрын

@@Pellbort lines from Parappa get spoken around everyone's houses more then Arrested Development's lyrics do in general

I can see a comparison to "Be Here Now", in that it's not all that different from their previous work, but its flaws are more obvious to the point that listeners had to realize those flaws had been there all along.

@andreaspe5762

4 жыл бұрын

Main differnece is that Oasis actually still had a career after the album. Not AS big but their albums still hit no.1 in the UK. Their last album in 2008 even hit no.5 on billboard 200

@calmbbaer

4 жыл бұрын

​@@ScorpionViper1001 - I'm not a Star Wars fan, but I've never heard anyone say that the prequels/Disneyquels made them realize that IV or V weren't all that good. If anything, the opposite.

@littlekingtrashmouth9219

3 жыл бұрын

It’s like when people complain that their partner changed in a relationship, when in reality those little red flags were planted all over, but you just chose to ignore them or hoped that you could change those things later.

@SteeZy644

Жыл бұрын

@@calmbbaer perhaps, but it does put into perspective that this massive franchise is held on the foundation of maybe 2.5 good movies and everything else is trying to match it, mostly failing

Never heard of this band until this video came out. I'm only now realizing that "Mr Wendel" inspired "Mr Dino", a song from Bill Nye the Science Guy about dinosaurs. That about sums up their relevance in my life lol

‘My girlfriend got an abortion without asking me how I felt about it and that hurts’ is absolutely a topic you can write an interesting song about but…woooooow

@psycho_dog33

Жыл бұрын

System of a Down have a song about that exact topic. It's called Revenga.

@puppetgeneral39

Жыл бұрын

Man That You Fear by Marilyn Manson is about the same subject.

Жыл бұрын

Lost Ones by J. Cole comes to mind.

@ayyguevara8448

Жыл бұрын

Brick by BFF

@maryvampiregirl666

10 ай бұрын

​@@puppetgeneral39*Man that you fear is about abortion? That's news to me*

I love how the channel evolved for the past couple of years. Todd put more and more emphasis on the musical context, and the videos (especially the Trainwrecords) are more of an in depth analysis of a cultural moment than just a review of a piece of music. Also this is one of his best videos yet, and this makes me feel terrible because I've been an unproductive idiot since the beginning of the pandemic.

@pronkb000

4 жыл бұрын

I didn't get into Todd until about a year ago, so going back and watching his OLD videos is jarring. In his Top 10 Worst Songs from 197-something, he's clearly channeling Nostalgia Critic--all shouty and complaining and "this is the worst thing EVER." I like to think he's sort of the personification of how video criticism has evolved over the past 10 years.

@KrisRN23935

4 жыл бұрын

Pauline Mocka It’s okay. Right now it’s more of a time where people are psychologically more focused on basic survival. And it’s really hard to do work or self improve in that state. So please try to be patient with yourself.

@paulinemocka1749

4 жыл бұрын

@@pronkb000 I started following him around 2016, when the angry rants era of KZread was already over. I liked his videos because they're very funny (I think his best strengths are his writing and his sense of comedy timing), but they were not really analyses, just a lot of jokes about songs. Now that he's more into contextualizing, I think there's more to it. Even in regular pop song reviews, I'm not sure the 7 rings or the Old town road ones would've been that interesting 4 or 5 years ago.

@paulinemocka1749

4 жыл бұрын

@@KrisRN23935 Haha, no worries, I'm currently doing well. I'm also pretty fine about being unproductive, and cool KZread videos are actually more helpful than anything else when it comes to procrastination.

@Aster_Risk

4 жыл бұрын

I've been a fan since 2011, and I absolutely love the development of his channel. I still watch all the old stuff too, though. Todd is basically the only KZreadr whose videos I can watch over and over.

The impression I get from this video is that between the dated influences, the incessant finger-wagging to the dominant genre of hip-hop, the questionable attitude towards women, and the super uncomfortable use of personal drama in a song, Speech was the Hopsin of the 90s.

@nykcarnsew2238

4 жыл бұрын

Dear god this is a great take

@grahamkristensen9301

4 жыл бұрын

At least Speech never rapped about getting a handjob from an Asian massage parlor. (At least I hope not.)

@Adamdidit

4 жыл бұрын

I was wondering how this breakdown was gonna end and you busted out Hopsin and I laughed so hard.

@joethehero2

4 жыл бұрын

What's a Hopsin? ... That's not a joke. I really want to know.

@grahamkristensen9301

4 жыл бұрын

@@joethehero2 Hopsin is a rapper whose known for being really braggadocious and juvenile but also tries really hard to be taken seriously but instead comes off as preachy and condescending.

“Warm Sentiments” is basically the equivalent in song to that Zootopia fanfic that was ripped apart and parodied by the internet a while ago. You know, that anti-abortion fanfic where they used the most despicable, manipulative way to convince to keep the baby.

@christopherwall2121

Жыл бұрын

"I Will Survive"? No, Judy gets the abortion in that, and furthermore, it's follow-up paints Nick as the one in the wrong for trying to push her into keeping the baby. Of course the whole thing was basically a shitpost anyways.

I've watched this several times, and it's only just dawned on me just how ironic it is that the guy called Headliner was demoted to backup rapper. It's both awful and hilarious.

They sound like they just moved to Wakanda and are trying way too hard to fit in.

@stefanfilipovits21

4 жыл бұрын

🤣

@jmann6130

4 жыл бұрын

@@stefanfilipovits21 OMG that image in my head is hilarious

@snapchatsnacks3154

3 жыл бұрын

In the song acing for Acres they mention buying land to “build a nation” So maybe they are trying to create their own wakanda lmao.

@maggie5990

3 жыл бұрын

It sounds like they genuinely believe Wakanda is a real country

@TacticusPrime

3 жыл бұрын

Do think that Black Panther is going to be perceived as having some Arrested Development energy in the future. The main conceit of the story seems to be that these reclusive people in the middle of the African continent were somehow failing black Americans by allowing them to be poor and discriminated against... which is totally insane. Were Russians failing the Irish for letting the British colonize them because the Irish are also White like Russians? No. Africa is a huge continent with many diverse ethnicities. Ugandan people didn't have anything to do with people being sold to slavers the opposite side of the continent. Ethiopians, Rwandans, Xhosa, Tuareg, Igbo... they are not part of one contiguous community.

Ah, Arrested Development, another victim of the “New Artist” Grammy Award

@littlekingtrashmouth9219

4 жыл бұрын

Christopher Cross, Marc Cohn, Men At Work, Starland Vocal Band, Jody Watley. Are The Beatles and Sheryl Crow the only successful exceptions? (Looked it up) Actually, they’re only right about half the time.

@baraka92

4 жыл бұрын

Little King Trashmouth There’s Crosby, Stills & Nash. Also I believe Dua Lipa is doing fine.

@tylerhackner9731

4 жыл бұрын

Lauryn Hill? (though Todd already covered her on Trainwreckords)

@ryanpopielarski569

4 жыл бұрын

baraka92 Plus Adele and Maroon 5

@nicholefontaine9299

4 жыл бұрын

Goyte anyone?

“After I scold you I hope I can mold you“ nearly made me projectile vomit. What the shit?

@almostclintnewton8478

3 жыл бұрын

Im eating a sandwich right now and literally choked from laughing at that part so fucking hard, hoteps are something else

I feel like Warm Sentiments is the kind of song where the subject of it hears it and goes "Yeah, I made the right call."

I think at the time in the '90s a black culture took a drastic shift from Arrested Development's message simply because it was starting to become a parody of itself. Arrested Development never fully fit in line with a thought processes of pan africanism. Which is one of the things that worked against them. Even though that was essentially what the second album's message was kind of trying to get across. Also they seem to harken back to past generations issues to the point where current state problems were a huge deal. Gangster rap wasn't necessarily just about gangster stuff but it also talked about inner city turmoil and also the riots. This second album from Arrested Development just seems really discombobulated with its own messaging while also not fitting into the current conversation.

@nykcarnsew2238

4 жыл бұрын

Eric Robins what was it about Arrested Development that was out of line with pan-Africanism? Don’t really know much about that movement

@ibn1989

4 жыл бұрын

@Cannibal Teddy This is exactly the type of group I would see that group of people would like.

@AFanOfCinema

4 жыл бұрын

Cannibal Teddy Former white college student here. I agree, and that's why I wouldn't want to listen to it. I'd rather want to know what woke black college students are listening to so I can actually understand the struggle of black people better.

@nickrustyson8124

2 жыл бұрын

@Cannibal Teddy Also Arrested Development while was too safe for the, "Scaring your parents" white crowd most of which are just jumping off of the hair metal ship while that was sinking

@TwighlightLugia

2 жыл бұрын

@@nykcarnsew2238 I know this is an oldish comment, but I think it's in reference to how much Arrested Development acted... idk how to phrase this better, passive aggressive? towards "gangsta" culture and generally just the implication that they looked down on people in that culture for perpetuating negative stereotypes about black culture and making it "worse". Which is a sort of "holier than thou" mindset to have if you're trying to unite the people, as it were.

Arrested Development seems like the band that caters to those people who comment on A Tribe Called Quest music videos and only praise them for not rapping about drugs or using swear words.

@duyanhng8430

7 ай бұрын

which is a shame because Phife and Qtip has such a unique flow, they are mesmerizing

This may sound really cheesy, but I always appreciate how much effort Todd puts into research!

@AUSTONDANGELO610

4 жыл бұрын

It's not cheesy, it's amazing how much work he puts in these episodes. Really shows he cares about making a pure review of these albums

@j.d.t.5761

3 жыл бұрын

Not cheesy at all. It's just dedication.

I used to be next door neighbors with one of the members (Dionne Farris) for a short time. Her daughter and I went to the same school when I was in second grade (this was in 2003-2004). I didn't know my friend's mom was famous until one of her songs came on the radio and my mom told me that she was a singer.

@cremetangerine82

3 жыл бұрын

Her song “I Know” is still a bop.

@wesleyantrim6648

3 жыл бұрын

I jammed the shit out of their first album back in the early 90’s, and Dionne Farris was the best part of the album. That’s a cool ass story.

@cremetangerine82

3 жыл бұрын

@@wesleyantrim6648 Her part in “Tennessee” probably helped her get a solo record deal!

@wesleyantrim6648

3 жыл бұрын

@@cremetangerine82 I’d say there’s a pretty high likelihood it did.

@littlekingtrashmouth9219

3 жыл бұрын

“I Know” instantly brings me back to the 90s and puts a big smile on my face

Civilization, are we really civillized? Yes or no WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY

@viscountrainbows6452

4 жыл бұрын

@@Jayfive276 It's whatever you wish to make of it.

@EpicB

4 жыл бұрын

Society was a mistake.

@joeybatmania9327

4 жыл бұрын

HORSESHOE GAMERS RISE UP

@napalmblaziken

4 жыл бұрын

But are we really social?

@BorbMcGorb

4 жыл бұрын

Princess Rainbovvs X Musashi What do you get, when you take a Grammy Award winning artist, and cross them with a society that abandons them and treats them like trash! I’ll tell you what you get! YOU GET WHAT YOU FUCKIN’ DESERVE!

This band reminds me of the obnoxious "woke" kid in that one episode of The Boondocks where Huey's old friend has a preachy new buddy who acts in a similar, condescendingly "enlightened" way.

@AFanOfCinema

4 жыл бұрын

I love how that kid says salami eggs and bacon when he's trying to say As-salamu alaykum 🤣

@GreaterSeraph

3 жыл бұрын

I made the same comparison. I also thought the music from this album sounds like stuff that plays as background on a lot of episodes. The difference is that the Boondocks back tracks are really good, and this album only seems to be occasionally good.

@j.d.t.5761

3 жыл бұрын

Basically a Dewey.

@jackmaxpower

3 жыл бұрын

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood made a joke about this. One of the characters kept saying all this stuff about helping his brothers but sold out and used convenient excuses to do what he preached against.

@lizzybethnj617

3 жыл бұрын

Chewbacca was a Wookiee lol

We need a Trainwreckords on Underground Luxury by B.o.B, that guy's career is too interesting NOT to cover on this channel

@petercahill6696

3 жыл бұрын

I guess you could say his career...FLATLINED after that record! I'll see myself out...

@zzcolby27

3 жыл бұрын

@@petercahill6696 ain't no better bloodline

@daelen.cclark

Жыл бұрын

He did not have the magic in him.

The more I think about this album the more it seems like the 90s version of “Death to Mumble Rap”. Only it’s “Death to Gangsta Rap” instead.

Jesus, last time I was this early Todd was still facing to the left

@RatelHBadger

4 жыл бұрын

Sitting in front of the stairs

@Nehelenia3000

4 жыл бұрын

James MacNCheese Todd always faces left *ba dum tsss*

@DragonslayerProd

4 жыл бұрын

The last time I was this early, he was still facing right.

Regarding the tone of the band: political, afro-centric hip-hop is a necessity, to be sure but the tone in this album is, as Todd said, brow-beating and preachy. It's like getting cornered by your obnoxious Hotep cousin at the family reunion and having him go on and on at you while all you wanna do is relax and get some good food. Acts like Public Enemy always made me feel they were on my side - Arrested Development makes me feel like they were on the "right side" and I could join them if I adhered to their beliefs.

@gracecarpinter8623

4 жыл бұрын

Dude, I was thinking about how Arrested Development gave off hotep vibes. The Afrocentrism, the respectability politics, (some of) the misogyny... if they went the B.O.B route and really leaned into conspiracy theories, then they'd properly be in that territory.

@nicholaswood3250

4 жыл бұрын

dcbandnerd My first impression was “wow, it’s the Hotep band” in those words exactly

@stevencoffin328

4 жыл бұрын

I never really listened to Arrested Development other than "Tennessee" but watching this video Speech reminds of that guy from Menace II Society who sits on the cooler during the party so nobody could drink while preaching about how evil alcohol is.

@Pooky1991

4 жыл бұрын

LOL "Hotep cousin". That is so true

@BucketOfFuk

4 жыл бұрын

@@CowMaster9001 Considering white people don't face nearly the amount of shit for skin color as any other race, there simply is no need for political white-centric music. And one can't make such s thing because it comes across as white supremacy

When you realize that this album came out the same year as The Funky Headhunter

@stevencoffin328

4 жыл бұрын

I think Dre is the Nirvana when is comes to killing careers in Hip Hop.

@timmy841212

4 жыл бұрын

🤯🤯🤯

@timmy841212

4 жыл бұрын

@@stevencoffin328 Accurate tbh 😂

@Rick-hl1cz

3 жыл бұрын

This year really was the divergent point of hip hop.

There’s a KZread ad for a hotel chain that plays It Takes Two and it started playing right after “but you got an abortion” so I heard “but you got an abortion… hit it!!” And that made me do a double take”

Gangsta Rap, generally: Talks about women as objects that you have around to have sex. Me: Man, the beats are good and all, but this is really rubbing me the wrong way. Arrested Development: *Writes Warm Sentiments* Also Me: Why is my monkey paw making a fist.

@torinju

4 жыл бұрын

@Kausachun Velasco Yeah, as a man, I would much rather be considered sexy but unimportant than be considered someone that needs to be instructed and molded to the speakers specifications in order to be a worthwhile human being. I mean, yeah, both are not good, but if I had to chose.

@hudde814

4 жыл бұрын

@@Jayfive276 At least it's better than that "Nobody:" meme that I always see. It's not even grammatically correct in the way that it's presented. It makes it look like "nobody" said nothing, which would mean that everybody said something

@Dogy0909

4 жыл бұрын

Kausachun Velasco Todd once said that it’s just a pose for most rappers, they’re happily married men who go back to their wives after selling a fantasy. I think that more than anything is a good way to look at misogynistic lyrics, just selling a fantasy.

@Dogy0909

4 жыл бұрын

Kausachun Velasco Oh yeah I getcha, I think some of those stereotypes, even if it’s a fantasy for the guys performing, are truly taken to heart by some of their listeners and can be harmful. The time Todd said that was actually about Juice Wrld, who was young and felt like he truly believed those things about women.

@roguishpaladin

4 жыл бұрын

@@Dogy0909 That's not a fantasy that should be getting sold, though. People base their lifestyle and ethics around the themes in the media they consume. That was true when Irish rebels were listening to folk songs in pubs, and it's true now. Music carries an unusually high ability to modify behavior - but those that profit by it end up disregarding that effect, because it is financially inconvenient for them to notice.

so THIS is why you asked if anyone remembers 'Tennessee'.

@barbarayhivjaneahl3198

4 жыл бұрын

I thought he meant the state....

@crnkmnky

4 жыл бұрын

*Horseshoes!*

@AUSTONDANGELO610

4 жыл бұрын

Same boat, I only known them for that song & thankfully it stayed that way.

@PHSDM104

3 жыл бұрын

@@crnkmnky A game of HORSESHOES!!

"my mama's lips between my mama's hips" - arrested development, 1994

@mackenziegivens6061

2 жыл бұрын

Ew, no.

I listened to Warm Sentiments after watching this and man... Todd was not joking. This the most uncomfortable song I have ever listened to. It was like being listening to a private conversation you have no business hearing but its being shoved in your face. Side note: I have listened to Dance with the Devil by Immoral Technique and Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday.

@daelen.cclark

Жыл бұрын

Are those ones better?

@TheAngryXenite

Жыл бұрын

@Daelen.C Clark Dance with the Devil is definitely good on a technical level, but in terms of subject matter it's so intense and unpleasant that it's really hard to listen to more than once every few months. Think of it like Schindler's List: It's really well made and its message resonates, but you really don't want to experience it again because it's just so haunting.

@AFanOfCinema

Жыл бұрын

@@daelen.cclark He's not kidding: the full length version of "Dance with the Devil" is very disturbing

@kennydnolan

Жыл бұрын

In a top 10 review, Rap Critic called "Dance With The Devil" the scariest rap song of all time. I agree 100%.

@philipsalama8083

Ай бұрын

"Immoral" Technique, lol.

An interesting Trainwreckords would be Byrdmaniax by The Byrds: their producer basically screwed up the record without the band knowing it and killing their critical respect, leading them to make a rushed and failed follow-up that killed their commercial prospects, followed in turn by another rushed album that broke up the band permanently.

@kylez8010

4 жыл бұрын

Big Byrds fan. I feel like in the last few albums they were quite literally a different band, as McGuinn was the only original member, and likely the boss, and the band could have had a different name. Byrdmaniax and Dr. Byrds were the weakest.

@PassiveNights

4 жыл бұрын

I’d love to hear something about a band I care about instead of rap

@faiselbutt2944

4 жыл бұрын

Sounds like great trainwreckords material

@ambskater97

4 жыл бұрын

@@PassiveNights ok boomer

@crnkmnky

4 жыл бұрын

@@kylez8010 That was the impression I got from reading the Wikipedia article: the _original_ band was already gone, and its weak substitute was finally taken out by multiple incompetent and rushed productions. A window was conveniently opening for a reunion of the original lineup, so the choice was simple. I don't know much about Roger McGuinn or the old recording industry, but I do find the history interesting.

This just reminds me of the Boondocks episode "Wingmen." Huey's former best friend falls in with an Afrocentric guy who's pretty much full of shit.

@islandofideals6571

4 жыл бұрын

Erika Ba-dewy

@TetsuDeinonychus

4 жыл бұрын

I love the poem he recites that includes "Chewbacca was a wookie" lol

@lizzybethnj617

3 жыл бұрын

Love that epsidoe

@shawnfields2369

3 жыл бұрын

@@lizzybethnj617 Loved The Boondocks. One of the best shows ever, with one of the best theme songs ever, and one of the best voice casts ever, you know, Charlie Murphy, and the dad from both the Wayans Bros. Show, and Friday, (both of whom who have since, sadly passed away). But, the legacy of The Boondocks shall never be forgotten.

I still don't get why they didn't just call the album "Beehive of Culture" that's a great title.

@TMC1982Part2

Жыл бұрын

I never thought about it but you have a point. Calling it "Zingalamaduni" just made them sound pretentious up the wazoo.

@stevencoffin328

Жыл бұрын

@Terrence Clay Yeah because when you hear the phrase "Beehive of Culture" it invokes imagery and then later on you might learn "oh this is actually a reference to something". Naming an album "Zingalamaduni" is super pretentious because you are basically forcing people to look up what that means to understand what you are talking about. It's why Bowie named his album "Station to Station" which is a reference to the Kabbalistic Tree of Life instead of naming the album "Kether to Malkhuth."

@royalcrumble2384

Жыл бұрын

Someone on here pointed out that it's not even a correct translation of that phrase, and they probably truncated it to something incorrect to sound more exotic, which imo honestly epitomizes most of the problems I have wirh the band

@AllardRT

5 ай бұрын

@@stevencoffin328 And bear in mind, looking up something in the 90s meant going to a library, knowing exactly which book to look it up in.

@talonthehand

28 күн бұрын

@@AllardRT Or asking a librarian (said while working in a library).

Consider this: Arrested Development never got with anyone in the hip hop community. Not De La, Tribe, Common or even KRS1, anyone! They sat at their own table in the lunchroom so when the pop audience who bought their albums left there was no one else to hold them up. No core hip hop audience, no original fanbase, no label representation ala Ruff Ryders, no hometown ATL crowd, just nothing! They were an interesting group, but I was 18 y.o. music fan then & felt like while the songs were catchy, A.D. seemed like a performance piece. Like GWAR or something. Plus Speech was just obnoxious. I defyy you to watch one interview with him from the 90s and then see if you could ever watch another for any reason other than monetary.

@bigbearkat2010

2 жыл бұрын

I just got done watching their Unsung doc and honestly he was still every bit as insufferable as he was in the 90s

@saj8

Жыл бұрын

One of the main reasons why my age group at that time referred to them as a dime store De La. Kool Moe Dee was right when he said that pop fans aren't really rap fans.

@Baseballnfj

Жыл бұрын

It definitely does seem like a "show" more than a band.

@timmy841212

Жыл бұрын

Speech seemed like a geek who no one wanted around so he formed a band and decided to use all of the rants he wrote in his notebook for his songs and used these guys as a front.

@SteeZy644

Жыл бұрын

Yup AD were elitist and isolationist af and it bit them in the ass

Mr. Wendell is the alternate universe bad version of How Much a Dollar Cost.

@spitfireohone

4 жыл бұрын

It's the racist version of any Taylor Swift released in the last 2 years

@nicolascaballero1320

4 жыл бұрын

It kinda seems like they were trying to make what to pimp a butterfly kind of is except they’re nowhere near smart or musically ambitious enough to do it.

@ogami1972

4 жыл бұрын

it's also biting on de la soul's "tread water"

@seymourglass26

4 жыл бұрын

@@spitfireohone Are you high? When has Taylor Swift ever sang about the homeless? She sings about ex-boyfriends and/or haters.

@migangelmart

4 жыл бұрын

nicolas Caballero I dunno, that first album really was pretty good. Speech was a brilliant guy. Haven't finished seeing tbis yet but I wonder WTF happened to AD.

Curious. *plugs Zingalamaduni into Google Translate, and setting it to "Detect Language." Apparently, it translates to "They can be expensive" in Zulu.

@LaydiNite

4 жыл бұрын

Says the same in Swahili. According to Google Translate, "mzinga wa utamaduni" is apparently how to say "a hive of culture" which is the closest meaning, since if you put in "beehive of culture" it translates back as "cultural bee". I wonder if Google is that far off, or if Arrested Development never had it right to begin with...

@qwertyTRiG

4 жыл бұрын

@@LaydiNite I barely trust Google Translate with big European languages like French and German. I wouldn't trust them at all with African languages. Swahili is very widely spoken, and there probably is a good corpus of texts available for them to work from, but its grammar is very very different from English, and I doubt that Google have given it the same level of care and attention.

@Necron1999

4 жыл бұрын

Mistakes can definitely be expensive.

@sofioremskoglund8396

4 жыл бұрын

@@LaydiNite When it comes to established expressions and stuff like that there's often language quirks that are harder to translate by just a program. If I were to write "Vasarru?" in Swedish, most people would probably recognize it as a contraction of "Vad sa du?" ("What did you say?"), because that's how it sounds when you say it quickly. Just looking at it it seems reasonable that Zingalamaduni could be a contraction of "mzinga wa utamaduni".

@daveybentley9059

4 жыл бұрын

mechaguess /sincere mode

Interesting fact: This KZread video about the album that ruined Arrested Development's career and reputation... has almost four times as many views as the music video for Mr. Wendal, a song referenced in this video, on Arrested Development's own page!

My sister, who wasn't a big fan of hip-hop but was your typical radio listener/MTV viewer at the time made an observation about Arrested Development that I think hits the mark for the general music consumer. She said, "Rap is inherently cool and these guys are hippies. Hippies aren't cool. Why do they give up their cool card. These guys are just lame." She didn't even listen to the music because she formed an opinion immediately and I think a lot of other people probably had a similar impression if they weren't interested specifically in hip-hop. Record sales were dependent on a wide audience and artists needed those casual consumers to buy their product. At the time, everyone I knew had both The Chronic and The Black Album even though they weren't huge hip-hop nor metal fans.

They sound like a combination of hipsters and "not like other girls" of hip hop

@bacht4799

4 жыл бұрын

Coco Lime I being too understand why hipsters was or is “ I think hipster is a gone by now “ hated.. they are condescending, self important, arrogant egotistical assholes there still waiting on a apology from another people for not being as cool, knowledge or respectful of different culture or history like them.. in short they was SJW before it was cool..

@vocalcalibration8033

4 жыл бұрын

@@bacht4799 Too young to have experienced hipsters? Oh god... I suddenly feel very old...

@crnkmnky

4 жыл бұрын

@@vocalcalibration8033 There's a fresh batch for every era.

Honestly, I think the answer to why Arrested Development bombed is made pretty clear in the clips showed: Speech is just the most miserable douchebag imaginable.

Binging a lot of these for the first time, I like how none of these really feel like the same episode, honestly. There are some similarities, but each album has its own unique reason for being a career-killer, and some of them aren't even all that bad in a vacuum. This one was really interesting, slowly unraveling more of a meta-narrative about Arrested Development's failure to actually connect with the people they were ostensibly making their music for, and how their message was a lot more hollow than what might first come across.

It's worth knowing the band members hated each other and were suing Speech over lack of credit and lack of payment. The bad atmosphere obviously impacted the musical quality.

1992 was one of the most important and transitional years in all of popular music, but ESPECIALLY hip hop. A large reason for that was because 1992 was the first full year of Neilsen Soundscan being implemented, meaning that rather than relying on unreliable shipping records and airplay data based on surveys, music sales and airplay were tracked digitally. This gave the record industry highly accurate data on what was being bought, and the numbers showed that hip hop, which the industry had previously dismissed as a fad, was in fact EXTREMELY popular among all audiences. Therefore, the labels in 1992 tried to take more chances on a wider variety of hip hop acts, allowing acts like Arreated Development to break through in ways they NEVER would have been able to before. So, yeah, there's a fun little lesson in music history. I actually made Top 10 Best and Worst Hit Songs of 1992 lists on my channel a couple years back if anyone wants to check them out.... I do talk about Arrested Development on there a little bit.

@UBvtuber

4 жыл бұрын

I don't think you mentioned the Nielsen Soundscan thing in your video, so thank you Sean for giving us some more background into how the establishment was thwarted temporarily by the true will of the people..... now if only the true will could shine more often, but there will probably always be label or establishment meddling, even after record labels finally die off.

@DiamondAxeStudiosMusic

4 жыл бұрын

@@UBvtuber I recently learned a lot about the history of Billboard's calculation formulas. I'm probably gonna make a video out of it

@UBvtuber

4 жыл бұрын

@@DiamondAxeStudiosMusic If you do, I would love to see it. :)

@richarddorazi8565

4 жыл бұрын

Guess you listened to Chris Molanphy's Hit Parade podcast on that. It's not just hip-hop that benefitted but also country music as it also showed how popular it was. A big example of it was Garth Brooks' albums becoming big sellers with the new data including one of his albums being the best-seller of 1991, the first year Neilsen Soundscan took effect on the album charts. Can't wait for that video.

@NJGuy1973

4 жыл бұрын

@@richarddorazi8565 No discussion of Garth Brooks can omit the fact that Soundscan forced the business to recognize how much he was selling.

The craziest part is my aunt actually liked them (she raised me until I was 10) and we enjoyed their music and they were one of my first exposures to hip hop as a kid…but zingalamaduni came out and my aunt was NOT with it…said they became the very condescending figures that they did everything in their power to NOT become and the abortion song got the tape thrown into the trash as soon as it ended…didn’t hear this album again in full until i moved to Atlanta 3 years later with my mom and boooyyyy did it leave a sour taste in my mouth and also is a big part of why they don’t get brought up much in Atlanta hip hop history convos…

On my old Instagram I once dm'd Speech asking him to give me a topic to freestyle to. To my shock he actually responded, asking me to do a rap about what alternative rap means. In hindsight, the video I sent him was terrible. I'm still hanging my head years later.

@TwighlightLugia

4 жыл бұрын

(insert priest hanging his head on the other side of the confessional box)

@lucasoheyze4597

3 жыл бұрын

My name is Joe and I'm here to say, This is how we rap the alternative way..

@joesaround

3 жыл бұрын

@@lucasoheyze4597 Might even be an improvement of my verse

@Champiness

2 жыл бұрын

I will say that’s a better response than I would’ve expected Speech to have for the bizarre prompt of “tell me what to freestyle about over Instagram dm’s”

@atlassolid5946

8 ай бұрын

this sounds like an episode of a sitcom

"and if people are forced to choose between snoop dogg and you, you lose. every single time." these words have been branded into my soul.

Great episode, Todd, this one was more of a history lesson for me since my Arrested Development knowledge starts and stops at the first album. But yeah, a lot of those lectures of theirs towards the Black community felt uncomfortably close to Bill Cosby's "piece of pound cake" speech...though obviously, Cosby had a far worse career downturn than Arrested Development.

@Schlagageul

3 жыл бұрын

It's hard to have a worse downfall than Bill Cosby lol.

@nickrustyson8124

2 жыл бұрын

The fact Bill Cosby the man who played really safe comedy when at the time Black Comedians were really dirty, turned out to be a sex offender always makes me laugh

@jamescook5783

5 ай бұрын

@@Schlagageul But if Speech turned out to be a rapist would anyone be suprised.

Hear me out here... What if we have a 90s Afrocentric hip hop group called Arrested Development but instead of being led by Speech, it's led by Screech.

@mrcliff3709

2 жыл бұрын

Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world

@JP-ve7or

Жыл бұрын

Screech dead. 🤔 Still better tho.

The joke that you made during the Bad And Boujee review where you joked "Why are you listening to this meaningless bling and bitches crap when you can listen to the album by MC Wokeness. Its called 80 minutes lecture about the history of systemic racism in America". That's basically Arrested Development.

@Jaceblue04

5 ай бұрын

That is TERRIFYINGLY accurate.

Just learned that my mother once met Public Enemy when she worked at a record shop. Apparently, one of the members (she pointed them out to me, but I'm not familiar with the band) was being a real ass to her coworker so she told him off. One of the other members found this hilarious because it legit completely cowed the guy. It was only after they left that she found out who they were.

@Jabbersac

3 ай бұрын

i bet it was Professor Griff who was being an ass, fuck that guy. the others kicked him out eventually

This is a really fascinating snapshot into a particular cultural moment and you handle talling about complicated issues really well in a way that manages to feel like this totally organic emotional journey when it's actually a very formatted and well thought out piece. I think that's really admirable and I really enjoyed watching, thank you

After watching this I get the feeling that AD really wanted, and tried, to become the 90's Sly and The Family Stone. It almost seems like they mimicking the Family Stone's discography by starting out with upbeat, positive messages songs and following it up with a dark, political, record. Except "There's a Riot Going on" felt genuine druggy, dark and paranoid, "Zingalamaduni" feels like taking that album and drenching it with hand sanitizer

@mamajodylynn5585

4 жыл бұрын

That is a really good comparison

@crnkmnky

4 жыл бұрын

I was like 9 when all of this happened, but my first _conscious_ experience of AD was actually "People Everyday", which is very dependent on sampling of Sly and the Family Stone. EDIT: I was mistaken, it just has the chorus, not a sample. At the time, the original Sly song was in a car ad too…

@timmy841212

4 жыл бұрын

They were definitely trying to be hip-hop's Sly and the Family Stone...

@nevadanate4957

2 жыл бұрын

I wouldn't call "There's a Riot Goin' On" a "political" album. It is connected to politics but none of the lyrics are particularly political, it's more about drugging yourself up and hiding from it all because it's becoming too much. Though Zingalamaduni isn't even that political either lol

@demoleramera

2 жыл бұрын

@@nevadanate4957 I agree with that in hindsight, Family Stone's early albums where definitely more open politicaly. Still think AD tried to do a "Riot" thing with this album though

Damn. That took a real turn. I can’t say finding out a guy who calls himself speech is a preachy jackass is much of a surprise.

The more I see lyrics from this group like "take me to another place" and putting so much focus on "roots" the more you see why this left such a bad taste in peoples mouths and why this couldn't work now. Those roots are about Africa, not the birth of African-American culture. It's like this weird escapism and a way to brush aside oppression by playing up how you actually belong somewhere else. That's a horrible fuckin message. It's all so incredibly hollow.

@nickrustyson8124

2 жыл бұрын

Also most African Americans are West African, while Afrocentric is more focus on East African Cultures

@TheAngryXenite

Жыл бұрын

@@nickrustyson8124 That's by design, if memory serves. Afrocentrism tends to fixate on cultures that are distinct from the societies that likely either housed their ancestors or facilitated their being sold into slavery because it's trying to separate African Americans from the perceived shame of their origins. It's especially questionable when some of them go after cultures that weren't black, like the Israelites, because there's this implication (if not an outright statement) that THEY are the "true" inheritors and the modern people of that culture are fakes or thieves.

Just saw a new Trainwreckords posted 7 seconds ago, clicked before even reading the title. These are some of Todd's best videos.

I still do Mr Wendell at karaoke every now and again. Todd’s right. People smile when they hear the song start, but then they read the words on the screen and you can feel the vibe in the room change.

@povilasbuda6490

2 ай бұрын

That's sadistic

Amazon: A Tribe Called Quest Wish: Arrested Development

I think your point about them not being able to get off the soapbox is also spot on. Kendrick is willing to criticize himself and will also just drop a total banger every now and again a la Humble. Tribe goofs around a ton, as did De La Soul. Even Public Enemy, who are probably the most one note of all the artists I mentioned, would have Flav do a song or two every album to lighten the mood (it also helps that they had The Bomb Squad doing their beats). This is just uninspired, uninterrupted preaching

@EpicB

4 жыл бұрын

And even Todd himself mentions this kind of thing in his One Hit Wonderland on Chumbawamba.