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How did you end up hooking up with Neneh Cherry for
the song braided hair?
Speech-Neneh Cherry;
we met a long time ago from all of the touring Arrested
Development did. We both got introduced by writing
together by a group called One
Giant Leap. They are a group that tours the
world, Africa, Russia, China, Japan and they look for
artists that have something to say intellectually. Bottom
line is they asked me to do a song with them. So I started
writing "Braided
Hair," (listen) they then without me even knowing
asked Neneh
Cherry in London to write on the same
song and it ended up being a collaboration. We weren't
even in the same room with each other. We never even hooked
up with each other to write the song together it just
turned out incredibly to me.
Arrested Development, I followed your career for a
long time. To me you all contributed to the 90's what
Public Enemy and De La Soul contributed to the late 80's.
What is it like to have that kind of legacy, to be part
of a hip-hop group that was really saying something?
Speech-I love it.
I love it. I'm so proud of this group. Like now, it's
been 10 years. We stopped doing music in 1995. We got
back together and we tour now and just to see the people
out in the crowd some of them are 18 all the way up to
30 some of them are older and to see them, to have never
seen us before, they had heard of us knew some of the
hits, but they never really knew about the group. To me
its incredible. I'm proud of what we've done with the
group. I'm proud that we never sold out, I'm proud we
stuck to our guns with what we speak about, I'm proud
that the music can be played for little kids. I'm proud
grandmothers like us, to me as a black person I know that
our initial culture is about grandmothers, aunties and
cousins and young folks and old standing together and
listening to music together. That is where we are coming
from. We sort of mutated to what we are right now where
a lot of the elders don't like what we are doing but that
is not where we come from in our culture, so I'm proud
of what we've done.
Since you mentioned grandmothers and families, I read
in the press release that you are a family man how do
you balance family and having this huge music career?
Speech-It's interesting
because I also lead a ministry. I lead a ministry of artists
and entertainers and the whole balance thing is really
interesting because it's a constant learning experience.
But it's fresh because my kids get to travel and do tours.
They've been to Japan. They've been to Europe. My kids,
now they are 8 and 11 and they've been through the whole
world now and I'm grateful because I get to teach them
some life lessons that are real not just through books.
They get to meet people and see different cultures. It's
great. I've been blessed.
Tell me about the new album The Vagabond .
Speech-The
Vagabond is really a diverse record. It goes
all over the place. It's sort of world music like "Braided
Hair." Some is straight up hip-hop influenced like
"What You Give." There is some soul stuff where
I'm really singing like "Shine." "Walking In
the Sun" has sort of like a Japan influence because
I've done a lot of work in Japan for the past 9 years.
That song has a lot of Japanese influence on it. So I
call it The Vagabond because musically I think
it goes a lot of different places.
What issues are covered on the new album?
Speech-Honestly
it's more personal stuff. On this album it talks about
spiritual journeys, it talks about marriage, It talks
about those types of issues more than it does politics.
It's a real personal record. On the cover it has me as
a baby. I think people can relate to it and vibe to it.
I'm going to tell you what album is in my IPOD right now.
Infinity Within by Deee
Lite.
Speech-Yeah
after that we got to work with Deee Lite on their next
album.
This summer you were on the NBC series "Hit Me Baby One
More Time" how did that come together?
Speech-That
was scary for us. When we heard about the show they did
in Europe and we heard it wasn't going to make us look
bad we decided to do it. It was a great day for us we
got to show about 23 million people that episode that
we were still doing our thing. We also got to donate $20,000
that the day before Africa didn't have, Africa got $20,000
to benefit children with HIV and AIDS, children that have
malaria which is treatable so it was an incredible day
for us.
Last comments?
Speech-Visit Speechmusic.com.
Gone
Away Audio WMA Format
When you learned that Speech and Neneh Cherry collaborated
on the song "Braided
Hair" did you think, "I wonder what
Neneh Cherry is up to?" Neneh is keeping busy.
She performed at Live 8 this past summer, she is a
member of a group named Cirkus, she is working on
her first solo record in almost 10 years and she is
a hot 42 year old grandmother. She also has been known
to work the wheels of steel as a DJ. For more awesome
Neneh Cherry info be sure to visit http://www.nenehcherry.de,
a very spectacular Neneh Cherry appreciation site. |
 Interview
copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, and Thabiz.com 2005
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is the author of Be
My Sorority Sister Under Pressure and the Unplanned
Pregnancy Book for Teens and College Students. She
is the founder of Thabiz.com
and Imissthe80s.com
and writes for the Rap,
Teen, and 1980s
section at Bellaonline.com. She is an ASCAP member as
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Visit Dorrie on the web at www.sparkledoll.com
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May not be reprinted, copied or distributed. You may link
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Interview copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com
October 2005.
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