Todd Thomas (born October 25, 1968), better known by the stage name Speech, is an American
rapper and musician. He is a member of the progressive
hip hop group
Arrested Development and has released a number of solo albums.
Background
He was born in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
and spent his childhood years there and in
Ripley, Tennessee, before relocating to
Georgia in 1987 to attend the
Art Institute of Atlanta
The Art Institute of Atlanta is a private art school in Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by Education Principle Foundation. The school is one of eight Art Institutes. It awards associate's and bachelor's degrees, including Bachelor of Fine Arts ...
.
He attended
Rufus King High School
Rufus King International High School, or Rufus King, is a public magnet high school located on the north side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, part of the Milwaukee Public Schools district. The school is ranked the 1,658th best public high school in the ...
and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His first rap group, Attack, was active from 1984 until 1986. He also DJ'd at a popular teen club called the Fox Trap along with other guest DJs.
Music career
Arrested Development
In 1987, Speech joined with fellow DJ Headliner to form the group
Arrested Development.
After over three years together, the group released their inaugural album, ''
3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of...''.
Speech performed lead vocals, and produced the group's tracks. The group's follow-up album, ''Zingalamaduni'',
fared poorly by comparison, but was critically acclaimed. Speech went on to pursue his solo career, also starting Vagabond Productions as a vehicle for Arrested Development and their business dealings, and became a promoter of neo soul, hip-hop, and rock concerts in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
. The company then switched to representing artists in U.S. and Japan. Since then, Vagabond has become an all around production house that presents music to various labels and digital outlets across the world.
In 2000, Speech also reunited with Arrested Development (without the participation of DJ Headliner or Aerle Taree).
Solo
His debut solo album, ''
Speech'', on
Chrysalis/
EMI, was released January 23, 1996.
"Like Marvin Said (What's Going On)", released by EMI Records in November 1995, was the first single from the album.
From March to May 1996, Speech toured Japan, Guadeloupe,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, and several areas of the U.S. "Like Marvin Said" was a No. 1 hit in Japan for seven weeks. In December 1996, Speech became a disciple of Jesus Christ within the
International Churches of Christ. Speech did various shows with Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Youssou N'dour, James Brown, Parliament – Funkadelic, Jason Mraz, and The Roots. The musical side of Speech kept him producing and writing songs for progressive artists like
Zap Mama
Zap Mama is the music act of Belgian artist Marie Daulne. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. The worldwide success of Zap Ma ...
, Spike Lee's
Malcolm X soundtrack, and ''
Boomerang'' starring
Eddie Murphy. He was in other movies like ''
Bebe's Kids,
Warriors of Virtue, Whipped'', and the
Michael Jordan documentary ''To the Max'' (an
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme ...
production). He built a home studio called the Podium in Fayetteville, Georgia. He licensed his second solo album in 1998, ''1998 Hoopla'', to
Toshiba EMI in Japan. ''
Hoopla'' was later released in 1999 in the United States on TVT Records. In 2000, Speech recorded and licensed to Toshiba EMI his third solo project entitled ''Spiritual People'', which garnered his biggest solo album sales to date, being certified gold by the
RIAJ in November 2000.
Speech followed up with various sold-out tours and heavy promotional schedules. ''Spiritual People'' was later released in the United States in 2001 on
ArtistDirect. Speech then licensed to Toshiba EMI, Down South Produckshuns which spawned another top 10 hit entitled "Braided Hair." Vagabond Productions later released a Speech solo compilation of Down South Produckshun songs, ''Spiritual People'' songs (U.S. version) and songs from Arrested Development's ''Among the Trees'' album, entitled ''The Vagabond'' in 2006. That album was released on Bluhammock records and won in The 6th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album.
Independent Music Awards – 6th Annual Winners
Speech toured with US Vice President Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...
and First Lady Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in the South during the 1996 United States Presidential election. Speech was also invited to and attended the inaugural celebrations. In November 1996, he toured with Hootie and the Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band ...
.
In addition to touring and releasing his own albums, Speech has performed on several other projects including '' 1 Giant Leap'' and collaborating with Zap Mama
Zap Mama is the music act of Belgian artist Marie Daulne. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. The worldwide success of Zap Ma ...
on "Each Step Moves Us On".
Publications
*''What Is Success?.'' Vagabond Records and Tapes, 2009.
Discography
Solo albums
*'' Speech'' (1996), Chrysalis
*'' Hoopla'' (1998), TVT
*''Spiritual People'' (2000), Toshiba EMI
*''Down South Produckshuns'' (2002), Toshiba EMI
*''Peechy'' (2003), Toshiba EMI
*''The Vagabond'' (2005), Bluhammock
*''The Grown Folks Table'' (2009), Vagabond Records and Tapes
*''Expansion'' (2020), Vagabond Record and Tapes
References
External links
Speech video interview at allaboutjazz.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Speech
1968 births
Living people
African-American male rappers
American male singers
Chrysalis Records artists
Independent Music Awards winners
Grammy Award winners for rap music
Midwest hip hop musicians
People from Fayetteville, Georgia
People from Ripley, Tennessee
Musicians from Milwaukee
Rappers from Atlanta
Rappers from Tennessee
TVT Records artists
Underground rappers
Arrested Development (group) members
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
African-American Christians
Christians from Tennessee
Rufus King International High School alumni
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American people