People Everyday rap stars Arrested Development at The Gaiety, Southsea: 'Top-notch showmanship' | Review

At this point everyone in the audience is seated, but Mack is having none of it, telling us we need to come down on the dancefloor, to ‘join the party,’ as hip-hop is about breaking down barriers, be they social or racial. Because if we don’t come to him, he will come to us…

By the end of his set, he has indeed come off the stage and is wandering among the audience – now standing – and getting us one by to holler the apt response to ‘I feel...’ which is, naturally: ‘marvellous.’

Atlanta’s Arrested Development first burst onto the international scene in 1992 with their debut album 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of…, a multi-million selling counterpoint to the prevailing gangsta rap, bringing social consciousness and spirituality to their blend. While they have never scaled such commercial heights again, they have continued to release a steady stream of new material, most recently 2021’s For the FKN Love, and their place in the hip-hop pantheon is assured.

Co-founder and lead rapper Speech is flanked at the front of the stage by vocalist/dancers Fareedah Aleem and April Allen. But there is nothing ‘backing’ about them – they are as integral to the group as Speech. Allen often takes lead vocals with an impressive soul-belter of a voice, while Aleem, when not singing, is a non-stop blur of limbs as she dances her way through the set with an athleticism and grace most watching could never hope to equal.

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They are however back by a four-piece band and the MC One Love, who provide the taut, funky rhythms which hit harder than their recorded counterparts.

The set, unsurprisingly draws heavily on 3 Years..., with powerful turns for Give A Man A Fish, Fishin’ 4 Religion and Mama’s Always on Stage alongside the big singles.

Ease My Mind from second album Zingalamaduni with its languid grooveis also impressive – mashed up with Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds and teasing us with the vocal hook from their biggest hit, People Everyday.

Bloody from 2010’s Strong brings some bite to proceedings, while early single Tennessee is just sublime. It finishes with all three vocalists at the front, eyes closed, arms raised. It’s a powerful moment.

To mark 50 years of hip-hop the band show off a playful, and slightly surreal side, as One Love performs Kriss Kross's Jump and House of Pain's Jump Around. While both are fun songs, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone else arguing they are defining tracks from rap’s first half-century.

Of course we also get their other big hit, Mr Wendal, but as soon as the opening melody of People Everyday starts up, the dancefloor suddenly gets much busier.

The showmanship throughout is top-notch, and they have made sure they have set a high bar for live hip-hop – a genre that has often been infamously and poorly served in the live arena.

Local disco-funk band Tash Hills put in a typically tight set as the night’s openers – it's always good to catch them.

The only dampener on the evening is that Arrested Development don’t get the sell-out crowd they so richly deserve.