There isn't an album in the world that makes me feel the way this album does. And to me that's almost kind of crazy, because there's certainly a lot albums I LOVE, but this album just hits in a whole other way.

I feel like the production is absolute euphoric perfection. If the album was only ever released as an instrumental album it would probably still be some of my favorite music ever created.

And then you add on Phonte's rapping. I place Phonte in my top 3 favorite rappers, and IMO, this is him at his peak (although I'd accept the argument for almost all of his discography pre-Getback). His lyricism is phenomenal, doing his every-man shit, while hitting some heavy topics. I honestly believe he was spitting some of the best rhymes you'll ever hear in this thing we call hip hop. But he sounds so casual and relateable that without really, really LISTENING, it's so easy for most to overlook how much he was able to completely master the art of rapping. No wonder he moved on to singing.

Add in the great melodies and numerous great singing and rapping guest appearances (e.g. Median, D-Brock) and I honestly think it's flawless. It sounds brand new every time I hear it, and although I think the album is perfect in general, on sunny Sunday mornings, it somehow sounds even better.

To top all of that off, I also consider the album cover to be my favorite, to the point that I have a blown up version of it printed on paper on my wall.

I struggle to think an album will ever mean as much to me as Connected does.