Revolution (Arrested Development song)

Last updated
"Revolution"
Arrested Development-Revolution.jpg
Single by Arrested Development
from the album Malcolm X
Released1992
Genre Hip hop
Length4:48
Songwriters
Producer Speech
Arrested Development singles chronology
"Mr. Wendal"
(1992)		"Revolution"
(1992)		"Natural"
(1993)
Music video
"Revolution" on YouTube

"Revolution" is a song by American hip hop group Arrested Development, from the soundtrack to the 1992 film Malcolm X .

Contents

Background

Speech has expressed gratitude for the film's depiction of a "side" of Malcolm X which shares the perspective of Arrested Development. Spike Lee, the director of the film, had asked Speech to write a song for it. Speech considered it a personal responsibility to "acknowledge that there is a need for struggle, because of all the bad things going on in the nation", which is reflected in the line "Am I doing as much as I can for the struggle?" [1] He composed the song with a purpose to urge people into action in bringing about change. [2]

Music video

The music video was directed by Spike Lee. [1] It was shot in a high school, a city block, and a street in Brooklyn with "about 500 extras". Each location had at least 100 people in the filming. According to Speech, the video was shot in seven hours. [2]

Charts

Chart (1992–1993)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [3] 7
France (SNEP) [4] 30
Germany (GfK) [5] 31
Ireland (IRMA) [6] 9
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [7] 42
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [8] 2
UK Singles (OCC) [9] 4
UK Dance ( Music Week ) [10]
with "Mr. Wendal"		2
UK Club Chart ( Music Week ) [11]
with "Mr. Wendal"		2
US Billboard Hot 100 [12] 90
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [13] 49

References

  1. 1 2 White, Timothy (October 22, 1992). "Inspired by Malcolm X". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 Williams, Stereo. "Arrested Development on "Revolution" at 30". Rock the Bells. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  3. ↑ "Arrested Development – Mr. Wendal / Revolution". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  4. ↑ "Arrested Development – Mr. Wendal / Revolution" (in French). Le classement de singles.
  5. ↑ "Arrested Development – Mr. Wendal / Revolution" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  6. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Mr Wendal / Revolution". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "Arrested Development – Mr. Wendal / Revolution" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  8. ↑ "Arrested Development – Mr. Wendal / Revolution". Top 40 Singles.
  9. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week . 9 January 1993. p. 16. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "The Record Mirror Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 16 January 1993. p. 4. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  12. ↑ "Arrested Development Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  13. ↑ "Arrested Development Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.