The Bar

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1. “Foreign Exchange Title Theme” – 2:28
2. “Von Sees” – 2:11
3. “Raw Life” – 4:48
4. “Hustle, Hustle” – 3:39
5. “Let’s Move” – 3:55
6. “Nic’s Groove” – 5:37
7. “Be Alright” – 4:16
8. “Sincere” – 4:47
9. “Brave New World” – 4:58
10. “The Answer” – 4:39
11. “Come Around” – 4:01
12. “Happiness” – 4:42
13. “Foreign Exchange End Theme” – 2:01
14. “All That You Are” – 4:33
15. “Be Alright (Nicolay’s Easybreezy Sunday Afternoon Remix)” – 3:04
16. “Call” – 2:45
17. “Downtime (Nicky Troutman’s Bounce to the Ounce Remix)” – 2:54

Label: BBE

Official Bar Score:

The group Foreign Exchange consists of Little Brother’s Phonte and dutch producer Nicolay. According to wikipedia, the pair met on the message board at the hip hop site okayplayer.com and began exchanging music. After some time the duo created the group without ever having met in person. “Connected” is their 2004 debut album.

I haven’t been so addicted to an album in ten years. I am a big fan of Phonte’s, and while doing the review of Little Brother’s new album “GetBack”, I came across an article referencing it. I had no idea it even existed. The back story was intriguing so I decided to check it out. And now it’s one of my favorite albums.

The albums starts with the Foreign Exchange Title Theme, a brief two minute display of the type of beats you are going to be getting from Nicolay. It follows up that up with the real intro to the album, where emcee Von P drops a quick freestyle giving props to everyone involved in the project. Without pause, the tracks leads into “Raw Life”, where we finally hear Phonte, who comes in spitting straight fire braggadocio alongside Joe Scudda. This is followed by the horns and bass line of “Hustle Hustle” where the Justus League crew tries to motivate…

I could on and on about every song. This one of those albums that with every listen you find another reason to love it even more. “Let’s Move” is a pro hip hop anthem that will put a smile on the face of anybody that can really call themselves a hip hop head. “Nic’s Groove” gets my nomination for best beat of the 21st century. Every single song on the album makes you happy to be listening to the album. There is no way you cannot appreciate it. If you don’t, you don’t like hip hop. This album has more soul than anything released in recent history.

I don’t care if the album is three years old, this album is a breath of fresh air. It’s one of the most laid back, head nodding, just plain enjoyable albums to come out since the mid nineties. Nicolay’s production, while reminiscent of Pete Rock and other producers who are big into jazz samples, is a masterpiece of deep but smooth bass lines and almost ambient sounding samples. It provides the perfect back drop for Phonte and the Justus League crew to come in and create some absolutely amazing verses. This is Phonte’s opus. More so than “The Listening”. He sounds like he could ride the smooth production forever. The beats seem to motivate the rest of his crew as well. Big Pooh, Phonte’s Little Brother cohort, is in rare form here, as are Shaundon, Median, and Ken Starr. Everyone involved with the project stepped up and helped create an underappreciated masterpiece. Who said hip hop is dead?

Bonus Video:

I dug up some live footage and a music video. Enjoy!

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