in: Video
The Foreign Exchange feat. Muhsinah - "House Of Cards" Official music video
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Off The Shelf #7: Little Brother/The Foreign Exchange BBC Radio 1 LIVE Session (2005)
'Off The Shelf' is the name of a recurring series on +FE Music. For each episode, Nicolay digs into his archives to present you with a gem that has never been released, or that has otherwise been forgotten about.
In celebration of the 5th anniversary of the release of The Foreign Exchange's debut album 'Connected', we have a very special 'Off The Shelf' installment for you today!At the end of January 2005, on the heels of a sold-out performance at London's Jazz Cafe, Little Brother/The Foreign Exchange (consisting of Phonte, Rapper Big Pooh, Nicolay, Yahzarah, Darien Brockington and DJ Flash) recorded a live-in-studio session for Gilles Peterson's Worldwide show on BBC Radio 1 (United Kingdom). Originally, the BBC Radio 1 only aired the two Foreign Exchange tracks, 'Come Around' and 'Sincere', but we are now presenting this session in its entirety. Enjoy!
Thanks for listening,
Nicolay
"LITTLE BROTHER/THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE BBC RADIO 1 SESSION" DOWNLOAD
Vocals by Phonte, Rapper Big Pooh, Yahzarah and Darien Brockington | Keyboards by Nicolay | DJ Flash on the decks | January 2005
Tracklisting:
01 Speed (Little Brother)
02 The Way You Do It (Little Brother)
03 Come Around (The Foreign Exchange)
04 Sincere (The Foreign Exchange)
Continue reading Off The Shelf #7: Little Brother/The Foreign Exchange BBC Radio 1 LIVE Session (2005)
in: News
Happy 5th Birthday, Connected!
Time flies when you are having fun...
Today marks the 5th anniversary of the release of The Foreign Exchange's debut album, 'Connected' (August 24 2004, BBE Records). Throughout the week, we'll be posting 'Connected'-related goodies on this website as well as on The Foreign Exchange's official website. Cheers!in: PAST SHOWS
The Foreign Exchange at Someday Lounge, Portland OR | Sept 11, 2009
in: Photos
The Foreign Exchange "House Of Cards"/"I Wanna Know" videoshoot (Part 2)
in: Photos
The Foreign Exchange "House Of Cards"/"I Wanna Know" videoshoot (Part 1)
in: Video
The Foreign Exchange at Athenaeum, Indianapolis IN
in: Interviews
Foreign Exchange: North Carolina Dutch hip-hop (via Nuvo)
Source: Nuvo
· By T.J. Reynolds
Sure, the Internet is killing off multinational conglomerated music Goliaths, but it's also spurring a new era of creativity and collaboration between artists previously separated by genres and geography.
Consider how hip-hop duo The Foreign Exchange came together. North Carolina native Phonte (of the rap group Little Brother) and Dutch producer Nicolay met on the Web site Okayplay.com and began to send tracks and vocals to each other via instant messaging. Those tracks eventually came to constitute the duo's first album under The Foreign Exchange moniker, Connected, which was released to critical acclaim before the artists ever met face to face.
Phonte couldn't quite believe his ears when he first heard Nicolay's rich production. "We had a bunch of conspiracy theories going on, because at the time he was overseas and was kind of like a mysterious figure," Phonte recalls during a recent phone interview. "It wasn't like we could hook up over at his house. We thought, 'What if he's really a girl? What if he's got a whole staff of beatmakers?'"
Continue reading Foreign Exchange: North Carolina Dutch hip-hop (via Nuvo)
in: Interviews
The Indianapolis Recorder: "Who Is The Foreign Exchange?"
Source: The Indianapolis Recorder
· By Jessica Williams-Gibson
Who is The Foreign Exchange you ask? The Foreign Exchange is the perfect fusion of soul, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and electronica - sounds masterminded by Phonte (of hip-hop group Little Brother) and producer, composer and performer Nicolay.
"It was around 2002 so it was somewhat of a radical concept to be making an album by e-mailing parts. When (Little Brother) was doing records, Nic and I were doing stuff for the first album and it was actually Pooh (the other half of Little Brother) who thought of the name," said Phonte. "We were in the studio and he said 'it's like a foreign exchange program.'"
The two met on a Web site message board courtesy of Okayplayer.com, began making music and instantly realized they had something special; they had synergy. Nicolay was living in Holland while Phonte resided in North Carolina.
Continue reading The Indianapolis Recorder: "Who Is The Foreign Exchange?"
in: News
Kevin Nottingham: Most Anticipated 4th Quarter Music Releases
More Shibuya news.
Kevin Nottingham lists 'City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya' amongst his Most Anticipated 4th Quarter Music Releases."Hot off the release of last year's Foreign Exchange album, Leave It All Behind, Nicolay is set to release volume 2 in his City Lights series. The Foreign Exchange producer had decided to stick with the formula and has invited FE members Phonte, Carlita Durand, and Zo! along for the ride. Nicolay never seems to disappoint, so this album is sure to be a winner."
Read the full article here.
in: PAST SHOWS
The Foreign Exchange at The 8x10, Baltimore MD | Oct 22, 2009
in: News
"Lose Your Way" featured on MP3.com R&B + Soul
"Lose Your Way" finds its way...
''Lose Your Way'', the first single taken from the upcoming 'City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya' album, is featured on the R&B + Soul section of MP3.com! Download the single for free at MP3.com or right here at Nicolay Music. 'Shibuya' will be in stores September 15.in: Interviews
Potholes In My Blog: Foreign Exchange is the future of the funk
Source: Potholes In My Blog
· By Gedi Dabakaeri
In the past six years Nicolay and Phonte have definitely put their stamp on black alternative music. I first heard Nicolay back in 2002 on Little Brother's - 'Whatever You Say' (12″) on a track called "Light It Up". It was hip-hop but soulful made by this relatively unknown Dutch producer unless you were on Okayplayer. Phonte and Nicolay continued sending each other music back and forth over email (thus the name Foreign Exchange) while Nicolay was in the Netherlands. Two years later they released Connected.
Sonically Connected was an extension of what Little Brother had already achieved with The Listening hip-hop-wise combined with musicality of Nicolay. It had a bit of everything in terms of influences and genre; whether it was jazz, soul/R&B, electronic or hip-hop. It was such a cohesive piece of work I almost wish it hadn't been released through BBE, but that's another blog entry. Whether they knew it at the time, Phonte and Nicolay had a definite chemistry between artist and producer that translated into some quality music.
Continue reading Potholes In My Blog: Foreign Exchange is the future of the funk
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Off The Shelf #6: Ilwil feat. Jameze - "So Far" [Prod. Nicolay]
![Off The Shelf #6: Ilwil feat. Jameze - "So Far" [Prod. Nicolay]](http://www.theforeignexchangemusic.com/img/thumb/so_far.jpg)
We've come so far...
This week's 'Off The Shelf' installment was actually requested through Twitter. You may know the song "So Far" in the instrumental version that is included on City Lights Vol. 1.5, or in the remix version that is included on The Dutch Masters Vol. 1, but the original vocal version is a little less known. The song, performed by Ilwil (Donwill and Ilyas) featuring Jameeze, was recorded around 2002, during what you could call our Okayplayer days. I'm sure that we posted it up on The Lesson, and Ilwil included the original version on their 'Beat Thieves Vol. 1 Mixtape', that is no longer in print.Donwill and Ilyas are better known as two thirds of the group Tanya Morgan, the third third being another one of my Okayplayer homies, mc/producer Von "First Date" Pea. Their latest album, Brooklynati, is in stores right now and is a must-have if you like your hip hop fresh. Don't sleep!
Thanks for listening,
Nicolay
"SO FAR feat. JAMEZE" DOWNLOAD
Verses by Donwill and Ilyas | Hooks by Jameeze | All instruments and programming by Nicolay | 2002
Continue reading Off The Shelf #6: Ilwil feat. Jameze - "So Far" [Prod. Nicolay]