Milwaukeeans may remember Speech for his community-conscious music as the founder and producer of the Grammy Award-winning, alternative hip-hop group Arrested Development. Speech, whose real name is Todd Thomas, never forgot his Milwaukee roots after finding musical success. That’s good news for Summerfest-goers, who have come to depend on a tradition started by Speech’s father, Robert Thomas: Robby’s Roasted Corn.

When his father suffered a stroke several years ago, the Rufus King graduate stepped up to keep the family business alive. Speech, who lives in Atlanta, purchased the business in 2005 and has returned to Milwaukee every year since to oversee his family’s corn business during the 11-day lakefront music festival. He even works his travel schedule around Summerfest. He’s currently touring with Arrested Development in the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. (more…)

Their breakthrough album was called “3 Years, 5 Months and Two Days in the Life Of …,” a nod to the long struggle fledgling rappers Arrested Development faced between the day they formed and the day they signed a record deal.

Now, it’s been 13 years since their last U.S. release. And the Atlanta group that topped charts and earned a pair of Grammys with their upbeat, socially conscious brand of rap in the early ’90s is back — hoping to again find a place on a drastically changed musical landscape. (more…)