The Foreign Exchange

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. Phonte came across Nicolay's music and asked him if he could lay a rhyme over one of his tracks. Nicolay obliged. Once Phonte's partner in rhyme Big Pooh layed his verse the end result was "Light it Up" - the B-side single for Little Brother's critically acclaimed 2003 effort "The Listening." 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.