Speech (rapper)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Speech
Birth name Todd Thomas
Also known as Speech
Born October 25, 1968 (1968-10-25) (age 39)
Origin Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. Flag of the United States
Genre(s) Hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper, musician
Years active 1993 to present
Label(s) Chrysalis/EMI

Speech (born Todd Thomas on October 25, 1968) is a musician and member of the progressive hip hop group Arrested Development. In addition to his work with Arrested Development, Speech has released a number of solo albums.

He was born in Milwaukee, United States and spent his childhood and teen-age years there and in Ripley, Tennessee, before relocating to Georgia in 1987 to attend the Art Institute of Atlanta.

In 1988, Speech joined with fellow DJ Headliner to form the group Arrested Development. After three years together, the group released their inaugural album, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of..., which produced several hits and sold very well. Speech performed lead vocals on most of the album's tracks. The group's follow-up album, Zingalamaduni, fared poorly by comparison.

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 his eponymous solo debut. From March to May of 1996 Speech toured Japan, Guadeloupe, Amsterdam and several U.S. “Like Marvin Said” was a #1 hit in Japan for seven weeks.

Speech toured with Vice President Al Gore and first lady Hillary Clinton in the South during the 1996 U.S. Speech was also invited to and attended the inaugural celebrations. In November 1996, Speech was also invited to tour with Hootie and the Blowfish. Speech released his second solo album, 1998 Hoopla in February 1998 on Toshiba EMI-Japan. The record included the top five hit, "Movin' On" and twice took Speech on a tour of Japan. In addition to touring and releasing his own albums, Speech has performed on several soundtracks including 1 Giant Leap, Malcolm X, Boomerang, Bebe Kids, Warriors of Virtue, and Michael Jordan to the Max.

In 2000, Speech reunited with Arrested Development (without the participation of Headliner). The group continues to tour, with most of their following in Japan.

Speech is married to Yolanda Thomas and has a son Jahi, and daughter, Zoe.

.

This biographical article related to hip hop music in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.