3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... is the debut album by American
hip hop group
Arrested Development, released on March 24, 1992. The album's chart success ignited the popularization of
Southern hip hop. Named after the length of time it took the group to get a record contract, 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... starkly contrasted the
gangsta rap that ruled the hip hop charts in 1992 (such as
Dr. Dre's The Chronic), focusing on
spirituality, peace and love.[1]
3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... was released to widespread critical acclaim and was later voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice'sPazz & Jop critics' poll.[2][15]Entertainment Weekly's James Bernard praised it as a "fresh-sounding debut album", referring to the group as "the anti-
gangsta" and "perhaps rap's most self-reflective act."[8]Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the group "displays unusual worldliness, wisdom and awareness on its debut, immediately establishing itself as a major new voice in hip-hop", noting
Speech's social themes and rejection of "macho boasting and gangster posing".[5] In a negative assessment,
Robert Christgau of The Village Voice assigned the album a "dud" rating and wrote that the album was "not horrible by any means" but "too often the beats shambled and the raps meandered",[16] though he would later revise his rating to single out "Tennessee" as a "choice cut".[17]
Retrospectively, Steve Huey of
AllMusic wrote that the rise of gangsta rap abruptly ended what seemed to be a "shining new era in
alternative rap" heralded by 3 Years and that the album, while not "quite as revolutionary as it first seemed", was nonetheless "a fine record that often crosses the line into excellence", further crediting it as "a major influence on a new breed of alternative
Southern hip-hop, including
Goodie Mob,
Outkast, and
Nappy Roots".[2]
The Wire named the album its record of the year, the first time the magazine had expanded its year-end critics' poll to include albums in non-jazz genres.[18] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[19]