Stereo MC's: Rob B, Cath Coffey, Vernoa Davis, Andrea Groves (vocals); Owen If (drums, effects); The Head (DJ). Additional personnel: Jennifer Ismail, Mica Paris (vocals); Johnny T, Ivan Hussey, Laura Cochrane, Anya Ulman (strings); Chicu Modu (saxophone); Kickhorns (brass); James Hallawell (organ); Matthew Seligman, Paul O'Kane (bass). Recorded at Workhouse Studios, London, England. Samples include "Let Me [Let Me Be Your Lover]" (Jimmie "Bo" Borne), "Bite Your Granny" (Morning, Noon & Night), "Passarinho" (Gal Costa), "Love Doll" (Ray Jay and the Eastsiders). CONNECTED is the third release from the Stereo MC's, a London trio of remixers who ferment their unique blend of rap, R&B and dance music with a healthy blend of European techno, dub and cool jazz, putting them in the vanguard of the music's new wave along with such irrefutably hip hoppers as Digable Planets. Augmented by the vocal trio of Cath Coffey, Verona Davis and Andrea Groves, CONNECTED is a brave new vision of dance music, as illustrated by the sultry title track, with its swampy rhythmic underpinning, '60s soul jazz punctuations, beefy bass line and its incantory chants, urging on the dancers to greater self-expression, personal responsibility and intellectual curiosity. These social themes run through CONNECTED, augmented by the type of hip Afro funk-jazz mix that distinguished early archetypes of this rap style such as Gil-Scott Heron.

• Genre: Pop
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 5/31/2019