The Foreign Exchange - Connected
I never told you guys how sick this album is. The album dropped in ‘04. I found out about it a few months ago but never knew how it was made til now. This album was a collaboration project between Phonte of Little Brother and a producer named Nicolay. Not only has this album has the bread and butter of both ill beats and rhymes, but during the development of this project, the two didn’t even meet in person. Taken from okayplayer.com:
The members of Foreign Exchange have never held a telephone conversation: never met face to face. That’s right. Breaking the current barriers set up between music and geography, The Foreign Exchange conceptualized, conceived and completed Connected by means of instant messenger and the world wide web.
Consisting of Phonte of Little Brother fame (vocals) and Nicolay (drums, bass, keys, guitars and samples), The Foreign Exchange came together via the online hip-hop community where people of like-minded music and artistry dwell: Okayplayer.com. Although Nicolay is based in the Netherlands and Phonte in Raleigh, NC they continued to trade music and discussed plans for a full length project.
Once the idea of a full length album became clear, The Foreign Exchange came to life.
After more than a year and a half of “file swapping,” Connected was completed. More melody than machinery, The Foreign Exchange composed a musical soundscape unifying all that is great about hip-hop, R&B and electronic soul. Through the 80s soul/funk synthesized sound of “Come Around” and street-wise “Raw Life”, the Foreign Exchange blend all of their musical influences to come back to hip-hop. Renewing their love affair for hip-hop and music in general.
Connected also acts as a showcase for up-and-coming artists such as the soulful YahZarah, lyricist Critically Acclaimed and members from North Carolina’s Justus League. And to ease all aniexites of Little Brother fans, “Let’s Move” let’s you know the trio is still holding it down.
The Foreign Exchange’s Connected is proof that the worlds of music and technology can not only co-exist, but unite.
This goes to show that some artists out there are actually doing whatever it takes to make us listeners happy. Oh how I love you. Best song in my opinion is Be Alright (Nicolay’s Easybreezy Sunday Afternoon Remix). It’s on my playlist on the bottom of this page. Peep it.
