Arrested Development is an American alternative hip hop group, founded by Speech and Headliner as a positive, Afrocentric alternative to the gangsta rap popular in the early 1990s.

It took the group three years, five months and two days to be offered a recording contract, when Chrysalis Records sent A&R director Duff Marlowe to Atlanta's Bosstown Studios to meet with the group's manager Michael Mauldin. Arrested Development had already been offered a single deal for the song "Tennessee," hence the name of the first album, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... , which produced several hit tracks. These included "Tennessee", "People Everyday", and "Mr. Wendal," all of which hit the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100.