Tha Connect

Tha Connect is the debut studio album by American rapper Willy Northpole from Phoenix, Arizona. It was released on June 23, 2009 via Disturbing tha Peace. Production was handled by several record producers, including Reefa, Bangladesh, Blac Elvis, LT Moe, Nard & B and Tha Bizness. It features guest appearances from B.o.B., Bobby V and Ne-Yo. The album's first week sales were 80,000. As of October 18, 2009 the album has 250,000 record sales.

Tha Connect
Studio album by Willy Northpole
Released	June 23, 2009 (2009-06-23)
Recorded	2007–09
Genre	Hip hop
Length	48:57
Label	Disturbing tha Peace Def Jam
Producer	Chaka Zulu (exec.) Jeff Dixon (exec.) Ludacris (exec.) Bangladesh Blac Elvis Jelly Roll Khao LT Moe Marc Coleman M. Rell Nard & B Reefa Tha Bizness Willy Northpole Wonka
Singles from Tha Connect
"Hood Dreamer" Released: March 27, 2009 "Body Marked Up" Released: April 28, 2009 "#1 Side Chick" Released: July 1, 2009

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
HipHopDX	3/5[2]
RapReviews	7.5/10[3]

Background

The album concept is the connecting hip hop listeners to a new state, Arizona. The album was in the works for several years and was originally slated for a release of winter 2008, but a conflict with fellow member of DTP Ludacris set the album back to June 2, 2009. Later the album was pushed to June 23, 2009. The album had 50 songs that were slimmed down to 12 songs, taking nearly 6 months. The album had several big hits that were "Too Big" for his first album. The album promotion was set up to be big with commercials during the BET Awards and billboards of the album but once the death of Michael Jackson all the promotion was dropped and the buzz for the album was gone.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	William Adams Kevin Cates Marc Coleman	Khao Coleman	2:56
2.	"Hood Shit"	Adams M. Rell	M. Rell	3:07
3.	"The Story"	Adams Sharif Slater	Reefa	3:28
4.	"How Hard" (Skit)	Adams	Willy Northpole	1:46
5.	"Body Marked Up"	Adams Henri Verreault Rich Harrison Garrett Hamler Beyoncé Knowles Kelendria Rowland Michelle Williams Dwayne Carter Clifford Harris	Wonka	4:01
6.	"Hood Dreamer" (featuring B.o.B.)	Adams Bobby Simmons Jr. Brandon Rackley James Rosser Clarence Montgomery III	Nard & B	4:38
7.	"Feeling Alright"	Adams Chris Whitacre Justin Henderson	Tha Bizness	3:12
8.	"Ghetto Tour Guide" (Skit)	Adams	Bangladesh	0:23
9.	"Ghetto Tour Guide"	Adams Shondrae Crawford	Bangladesh	4:02
10.	"#1 Side Chick" (featuring Bobby V)	Adams Bobby Wilson Cates Coleman	Khao Coleman	4:31
11.	"Vegas Lights"	Adams Todd Moore	LT Moe	4:08
12.	"The Life" (featuring Ne-Yo)	Adams Shaffer Smith Elvis Williams Cotrell Qualls	Blac Elvis	3:47
13.	"Dear Lord"	Adams Slater David Buchanan	Reefa	2:39
14.	"At Salt's Grave" (Skit)	Adams David Drew	Willy Northpole	1:30
15.	"Heaven"	Adams Drew	Jelly Roll	4:49
16.	"Get Up, Get Down (iTunes Bonus Track)"		Bangladesh Chase N. Cashe	3:10
Total length:				48:57

Sample credits

• Track 5 contains samples from "Soldier", performed by Destiny's Child featuring T.I. and Lil Wayne

Music videos

• Hood Dreamer - (April 13, 2009)
• Body Marked Up - (May 9, 2009)
• Ghetto Tour Guide - (May 11, 2009)
• 1 Side Chick - (July 1, 2009)

Chart positions

Chart (2009)	Peak position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	47
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)	21