"STAY CONNECTED"

In tonights edition of Digital Crate Diggin', I decided to hit y'all with one of my personal favorite albums of the past few years: The Foreign Exchange's "Connected". The group is made up of emcee Phonte of Little Brother and producer Nicolay from The Netherlands. The name "Foreign Exchange" is a reference to the circumstances behind the pair's collaboration...they first made contact on the Okayplayer message boards, and began trading their beats and vocals back and forth over AOL Instant Messenger until they had created a full LP worth of material. In fact, the entire process was conducted using only the technology of AIM, email, telephone + standard mail. Not only that...but the two did not meet in person until they began the tour once the album was released!

The album was eventually released independently through BBE Records in 2004 and although it was criminally slept on and overlooked by even the most devoted hip-hop heads, it was positively reviewed by critics and was widely considered one of the best independent releases of the year. It has a very lush, soul driven, laid back sound. In fact it's reminiscent of the jazz driven production from Q-Tip + Ali Shaeed of A Tribe Called Quest and the Dutch producer's style can also be compared to Pete Rock and Kanye West as his sound shares a lot of similar qualities from the two legendary producers. As far as lyrics are concerned, the multi-talented Phonte Coleman delivered nothing but quality bars and pulled off some great concept tracks while his average-joe subject matter meshed perfectly with Nicolay's incredible production from start to finish. However, Phonte & Nicolay are not the only contributors on the disc. "Connected" also features a gang of guest artists including the second half of Little Brother, Rapper Big Pooh as well as Von Pea of Tanya Morgan, and Justus League members including Joe Scudda, Median, Ken Star, Oddissee, + Darien Brockington.

If you download one thing from The Undaground this week...make sure it's this joint right here. "Connected" is a perfect soundtrack to the Spring, and it's light, easy going mood is perfect to ride out to as the weather starts to warm up. Fortunately for us, after a four year break to pursue their other projects, Nicolay + Phonte have linked back up and are currently in the studio working on a follow-up titled "Leave It All Behind" that is scheduled to drop later this Summer! I'll bring y'all more info on that as soon as it's released. In the mean time, check out the original album below...