Speech is a musician and member of the afrocentric hip-hop group Arrested Development. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, speech's "Like Marvin Said (What's Going On)", (1995) was the first single from his solo debut. In 96 Speech toured Japan, Guadeloupe, Amsterdam and several U.S. cities. “Like Marvin Said” was a #1 hit in Japan for seven weeks.

Speech toured with Vice President Al Gore and first lady Hillary Clinton in the South during the 1996 U.S. Presidential election. Speech was also invited to and attended the inaugural celebrations. In November 1996, Speech was also invited to tour with Hootie and the Blowfish. Speech released his second solo album, 1998 Hoopla in February 1998 on Toshiba EMI-Japan. The record included the top five hit, "Movin' On" and twice took Speech on a tour of Japan. In addition to touring and releasing his own albums, Speech has performed on several soundtracks including Malcolm X, Boomerang (film), Bebe Kids, Warriors of Virtue, and Michael Jordan to the Max.

Speech is married to Yolanda Thomas and has a son Jahi, and daughter, Zoe.