Ok, how can I start this? Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear... *sigh* yes, it's my birthday. Another year for me, and I'm growing. Not only that, it's the 20th anniversary of my favourite album, The Infamous, and 13 years since Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes passed away. Not only just that, but it's Saturday, and it's time for another review today. And I'm continuing where we left out 2 weeks ago on the Little Brother saga.
Phonte, the primary member of Little Brother just got back from releasing the album, The Listening (which I said was a really comfortable listen), which at the time, was praised by bloggers and critics, loving the album for what it was. Little did the fans know that while all that was happening, Te was doing other stuff. He actually went on Okayplayer.com and met Nicolay, an electronic/soul/(mainly instrumental) hip-hop producer from The Netherlands. Once knowing each other through the website, they managed to start their chemistry as The Foreign Exchange.
So, the following year, they started with Connected, which was released on BBE in 2004. This was Phonte's first solo work, but on the condition that Nic would produce the whole album (Charity Starts At Home would be his first album with other production). During the making of the album, Nic would create a beat and send it to 'Te from the Netherlands via mail/instant messaging, while he would return the product with the vocals, with Nic mastering it. Unlike previously with The Listening, the album is filled with a lot of features from YahZarah to Darien Brockington (with only 2 tracks where he's on his own). Of course, his buddy Rapper Big Pooh would come and make an appearance on the album, having 3 songs together.
The album would be known as an "alternative hip-hop classic", which rose Phonte's reputation from Little Brother. The surprising thing is they did all this through instant messaging and mail, and they didn't meet until after the album was completed. The focus on the group would change when their second solo album was released and showcased Phonte's singing, instead of his usual rapping (hence a few comparisons to Drake). Nicolay would go on to make some solo work, including an album called Here, which featured Black Spade, Darien Brockington, YahZarah and a young Wiz Khalifa!
So here on this album, was it any good? Did the chemistry work? Was Nic's beats great? Or was Phonte better with 9th Wonder and Big Pooh? Well, let's find out...
1. Title Theme
Well, at least they're avoiding calling this an intro. This was great for an opening.
2. Von Sees
On this song, Von Pea (of underground rap group Tanya Morgan) takes over with a rap on his own. I liked this song. Nic's beat was great, and running for 2 minutes, it felt short with only 16 bars from Von and I can see why. Still a nice second introduction tho.
3. Raw Life (feat. Joe Scudda)
I love this song so much. I remember the first time listening to this on my way to school, hitting my heart. 'Te started out really good, and I liked the street vibe I felt from this cos of Nic. Joe Scudda's delivery was on point, which got me to bump my head a lot, but the actual verse isn't really all that, but it's alright. This song was really good to listen, and everything on this song was just straight heat! A standout on the album.
4. Hustle, Hustle
This song is really great. It had a lot of Dilla influence with an earlier Slum Village vibe. But the thing is the group Critically Acclaimed leads the song while 'Te does the chorus. Although this may be one of my favourites on the album, Phonte should've had a better contribution including a verse. This is still a really great song though and I like it.
5. Let's Move (feat. Rapper Big Pooh)
I like this song a lot. This is a very great song and I'm not disappointed by this song. Pooh comes on and he starts off this song really nice, while Phonte has a really interesting verse. I really liked this song, it stood out to me very much. Nicolay adds a really light and sunny vibe to it and I can move a lot of this song. Even as I wrote this while listening, I was just rocking my head so much. This was very good to listen to.
6. Nic's Groove (feat. Rapper Big Pooh)
On this fan favourite, Pooh returns with Phonte and once again starts off with a decent verse. Compared to "Let's Move", I found this a little better than the previous. This has a chiller and a much groovier vibe and I felt this song a lot. I can move to "Let's Move", but I can sit down and vibe to this one. Oh yeah, Phonte did his thing, and I liked it, especially how the song ended with the "...and you don't stop" ad-libs and the beat switch up, which was a great ending. Love this song.
7. Be Alright (feat. Median & Frank Ford)
Median & Frank Ford are up next on the guest list, getting on a decent song. This song is the second word of the title: Alright. I did like the content that 'Te and Med managed to fit in, with Nic's light and sunny beat. Frank's hook was decent and alright. Nothing really stood out much, but I can hum the melody at some points, and that's it.
8. Sincere (feat. YahZarah)
Ooooh look, a commercial-like song with your typical female singer doing the hook. NEXT! Nah, I'm just playing. But really, the first time hearing this was really forgettable as hell, with the second time being a lot more boring. But, I had the time to listen to the song again via the music video, and this song is actually great. It took me a long time to digest the song into my mind, because of how I'm not that fund on R&B/Hip-Hop collabs (hey but "Climb" from Mos Def & Vinia Mojica is still a great song today). YahZarah's contributions are catchy sometimes, but I didn't like them that much. But hell yeah, it's still a good track for me.
9. Brave New World
Finally, we see Phonte lead a track on his own, without an singer/rapper feature, and this ends up being my favourite song on the album. Here, 'Te brings up topics including corruption, single mothers, and of course, how he feels ever since his Little Brother status in The Listening era. This song was really great to hear. He raps on topics that were interesting to hear, with the beat being very hot for me. The ending beat was something good to vibe to, and overall makes this one hell of a song.
10. The Answer (feat. Oddisee, Sean Boog & Kenn Starr)
I thought I wouldn't really like this song, but this is just great. Oddisee's starter verse was on point, with his delivery being really nice, and the beat being awesome. Sean Boog's chorus was alright, but his voice bugs me. Te's verse wasn't a disappointment and Kenn Starr sounds a little like Joe Scudda & his verse wasn't really nice. I really liked the beat a lot, and it was good. The verses on this track came on point apart from Kenn, but they all did their best there with their raw flows. What follows then is a caller interlude.
11. Come Around
Singer Darien Brockington does a solo here. I first thought this would be an annoying R&B song to just use as filler, but to be honest, it's actually alright. It kinda makes me think of the album cover a lot more than other songs. It's best if you count this as an interlude though!
12. Happiness (feat. Rapper Big Pooh)
Out of all the 3 Pooh collabs on this album, I didn't care much for this. I liked the chill concept here and the beat was good (I didn't like the switch-up that much at the end tho), but I didn't like much. But here, I felt Pooh did a better job here than 'Te. At the end, it's nothing that stood out to me or maybe others. It's just... alright!
13. End Theme
And there we have it. It's over... or is it?
14. All That You Are (feat. Median & Darien Brockington)
No, it's not over. So I'm not sure why the "end theme" came too early. Anyway, on this song that ends up feeling like one of the bonuses, we got Med & Darien. We get another funky song where 'Te and Med go back and forth. This is alright and decent, and is something celebratory. I got nothing else to say about this.
15. Be Alright (Nicolay's "EasyBreezy Sunday Afternoon" Remix)
I didn't like this when I first heard it, to be honest. But I kinda got used to it with a sunny and positive vibe. I still find the original a little better!
16. Call (feat. Darien Brockington)
I liked this Phonte/Darien collab a little bit. It feels like an interlude though.
17. Downtime (Nicky Troutman's "Bounce To The Ounce" Remix)
I'm not sure if there's an original version that didn't make it onto the album. If there's no original, then Lord knows why the heck it's bracketed as a Remix. But it's so damn good. The beat is so groovy, and Te's lyrics are improved and freshened up a little more than before. The electro vibe I got from this was sure as hell great. Well, phew, now it's over! A nice way to end this album, especially after some mediocre songs before this.
You know what, listening to Connected has been very comfortable as hell. As of right now, I have listened to this album 3 or 4 times and my thoughts on this has changed around the place. I'm just really happy with this. Connected is a really nice album, following up an underrated classic and is at a place where Phonte is around different people instead of 9th Wonder and Pooh. Here, Phonte showed how he could be better off without LB for some time, and he was on point with it. A lot of positive vibes were being made, which was portrayed heavily here compared to The Listening, and I liked how it was a side-project before their second album. 'Te manages to give the raw vibes on songs such as "Raw Life", "The Answer" and "Brave New World", while at the same time, we got good morning and feelgood songs like "Sincere" and "Let's Move". It does manage to pick up some flaws though, including Darien Brockington's presence sometimes, which didn't do much for me. Compared to The Listening, Connected has so much features instead of 1 or 2, which kinda feels like a modern Game album. But, it's not really a problem here, like it would be with Game (because I think with Game, he does it to possibly try and stay relevant). The features were alright, not bad, but not that good. Here, some features managed to be very accurate and on point, including Critically Acclaimed on "Hustle, Hustle" and of course, Rapper Big Pooh on "Let's Move" & "Nic's Groove" (others include Oddisee & Median). However, maybe Kenn Starr didn't impress me on "The Answer" and that's my favourite songon the album, along with Darien Brockington sometimes (as I said before). But am I still impressed by how the album turned out to be? Well... yes! As much times as I've compared it to The Listening, it's because of how different the two turned out to be. Speaking of which, I never knew why Nicolay was compared to 9th. I always saw that they have very different sounds. And yes, Nic's beats were really good and I really liked the atmosphere that Nic managed to put on this album. So to conclude all this, Pick this up. It's a very great album to listen to, and as it came straight after The Listening, it's a good follow up and it showed a perfect route for Te to take. It's very good to listen to and Te & Nic's chemistry is way on point, making this album such a impressive listen!
The Furious 5ive
Brave New World
Raw Life
Nic's Groove
Let's Move
Hustle, Hustle
Honourable Mentions
Downtime
The Answer
Sincere
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