Foreign Exchange - Connected
List Price:
Our Price: $12.80
You Save: $0.18 (1%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.90 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: Foreign ExchangeEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-08-24
Music Label: Bbe
Soundtracks:
- Title Theme
- Von Sees
- Raw Life
- Hustle Hustle
- Let's Move
- Nic's Groove
- Be Allright
- Sincere
- Brave New World
- The Answer
- Come Around
- Happiness
- End Theme
- All That You Are
- Be All Right Remix
- Call
- Downtime Remix
Free Music Notes for Connected
Free Music Review: Foreign Exchange of Ideas
Hit: 5 Stars
Before we start let's get a few myths out of the way.
Nicolay is not the best producer ever to grace an album.
This is not the long awaited Phonte solo joint.
Connected is not the best hip-hop album ever.
Now we can proceed:
Nicolay succeeds in creating a beautiful landscape for Justus League MCs (Phonte, Big Pooh, Joe Scudda, Von Pea, Legacy etc.) to lay their hardcore/smooth rhymes. There is a sonic theme to the album which can only be described as ....smooth and laid-back. Don't be fooled though this album is not soft, like Slum Village Nicolay shows that you can have a sound that's butter smooth but still have that hardcore appeal. It is this running theme that ultimately makes the album successful. Many albums today are simply put together by collecting the hottest producers at that moment and letting the MC rhyme over a varied array of beats resulting in an album that has one or two hot singles but it does not play like an album. Case in point: Jadakiss or anything from the G-Unit.
What makes Nic so good is the fact that his beats are not one dimensional. His production is varied (e.g. Be Alright, Raw Life and Nic's Groove) but it has that Nicolay signature on it. Nicolay may not necessarily be the best and his electronica/jazzy/pop/R&B beats may not work for everyone but on this record he shines because he hogs the spotlight and expresses himself freely. On Happiness he changes up the beat mid-song to great effect and the horn's on Hustle, Hustle are just sick.
Phonte takes a starring role in the creation of this project but he shares the spotlight with his North Carolina crew and uses this as an opportunity present to the world a new breed of R&B/neo-soulstars in Yazarah and . Phonte merely acts as overseer on the project, but one who is not afraid to get his hands dirty in order to ensure the success of the project as a whole. In fact the brightest moments on the album are when Phonte gets on the Mic. Most notably on Nic's Groove where he and his Little Brother partner in rhyme trade verses over Nicolay's infectious Groove or on the posse cut The Answer which is the albums hardest track or on Raw Life where he drops what must be 2004's most quotable line: "Thought kissing ass was in my blood type O-negative". For the most part though Phonte is happy to sit back and let Nicolay take centre stage with beats.
As mentioned earlier Connected is not the best hip-hop album ever, this is because the album has far greater ambitions and that is to be greatest album ever. Connected is not a typical Hip-Hop album, its best described as a compilation as it has many MC's on it and it covers more than just a single genre. Like OutKast's recent classic or Madvillian's insane (ad)venture connected stretches the definition of what a hip-hop record is but unlike the other two it does so without alienating any music (hip-hop or otherwise) lover. The album is not without its weaknesses however and more often than not it is the uninspired choruses on the R&B joints and some of the MCs (e.g. Von Pea) do not pull their weight. On the other hand what classic album never had weaknesses. The question of whether this is the greatest album ever is ultimately irrelevant. What's more important is that this album signifies the beginning of what promises to be a great career for the Hip-Hop world's newest star producer and a continuation of a legacy that began with the now classic The Listening.
The bar has been set very high for the next Little Brother release.
Connected Poster
The Foreign Exchange first "met" in mid-2002, when Phonte (who resides in North Carolina and is also a member of the underground rap trio Little Brother), heard some of Nicolay?s music online and asked to rhyme over one of his tracks. When Big Pooh of Little Brother, lent his vocals to the track, the song became "Light It Up," and was featured as a B-side single for the group?s acclaimed 2003 effort, The Listening. "Nic was sending me some of the most beautiful stuff I?d ever heard in my life," Phonte says emphatically. "They inspired me so much that I just had to do something over them." The end result is Connected, a gorgeous and reflective blend of hip-hop, R&B, and electronic soul.While Phonte serves as the duo?s main vocalist, the group is quick to point out that Connected is not a "Phonte solo album," and is instead an ensemble record with Nicolay and Phonte acting as the project?s conductors. With guest shots from up and comers Critically Acclaimed on the churchy, organ-driven "Hustle, Hustle," and neo-soul songstress Yahzarah contemplating lost love over the melancholy vocal harmonies of "Sincere," Connected finds Nicolay and his multi-talented counterpart uniting artists from different genres under a united theme of good music.
As cliché as it sounds, music does have the ability to bring people of various background and ethnicities together. Think not? Witness Connected, the debut album from the Foreign Exchange. North Carolina-raised MC Phonte, one-third of Little Brother, and Dutch producer Nicolay formed the duo and crafted the ethereally lush hip-hop album without ever meeting face-to-face. Using the marvels of modern technology, the group traded verses and tracks over the Internet. The result is anything but mechanical. Nicolay crafts soulful, intricate backdrops that draw comparisons to producers Pete Rock and Kanye West. On the appropriately titled "Nic's Groove," the producer crafts a pitch-perfect midtempo track over which Phonte and Little Brother cohort Big Pooh trade verses. Phonte also enlists a host of upcoming artists to guest on the set. The group's MC teams with newcomer Median on the emotional "Be Alright." While Median holds his own, Phonte is in full command with a personal lyric about dealing with the ups and downs of everyday life. Meanwhile, "Sincere," which features R&B songstress YahZarah, will have listeners falling in love with hip-hop and each other all over again. Connected is a prime example of the power of good music uniting different worlds. Maybe our elected officials could take a page out of the book of the Foreign Exchange. --Lincoln Smith
Pop Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Pop Music CDs
Yvette Freeman - Dinah Was (L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection)Release date: 2005-04-12; Music CD
Best price: $21.07
Price in other shops:
Twin Sisters Productions - Building Character Music CDTWIN SISTERS PRODUCTIONS; Release date: 2007-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Bernadette Peters in ConcertDVD
Best price: $129.99
Everything Must Go/ Two Against Natureby Steely Dan
Published: 2003; Music CD
Scattered Ashesby Ihsahn / Emperor
Candlelight Records/Emi; Published: 2009-07-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $9.75
Price in other shops:
![Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS] Image](/images/Christmas-at-the-Biltmore-Estate-VHS-076700437X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS]A&E Home Video; Release date: 1998-09-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.84
Price in other shops:
The Shadow: Rare Radio Gems (Rare Radio Gems)Release date: 2002-09-01; Published: 2002-09-01; Music CD
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
On the Shoulders of Giants, Vol. 1: An Audio & Musical Journey Through the Harlem Renaissanceby Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Release date: 2011-09-06; Published: 2008; Music CD
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops:
Francis Durbridge, Paul Temple & The Gilbert Case - Radio ShowRelease date: 2003-05-12; Music CD
Best price: $21.49
Price in other shops:
The Serenaders - My One and Only YouRelease date: 2011-05-28; Music CD
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Nicolay - Shibuya (City Lights Vol. 2)Release date: 2009-09-15; Music CD
Best price: $7.96
Price in other shops:
Common - The Dreamer, The BelieverRelease date: 2011-12-20; Music CD
Best price: $9.61
Price in other shops:
Goapele - Break of DawnRelease date: 2011-10-24; Music CD
Best price: $7.31
Price in other shops:
Little Brother - Minstrel ShowRelease date: 2005-09-13; Music CD
Best price: $3.36
Price in other shops:
Zo! - SunstormRelease date: 2010-07-27; Music CD
Best price: $8.06
Price in other shops:
9th Wonder - The Wonder YearsRelease date: 2011-09-27; Music CD
Best price: $11.14
Price in other shops:
Little Brother - The ListeningRelease date: 2003-03-18; Music CD
Best price: $12.24
Price in other shops:
The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All BehindRelease date: 2008-10-14; Music CD
Best price: $10.21
Price in other shops:
Phonte - Charity Starts at HomeRelease date: 2011-09-27; Music CD
Best price: $8.14
Price in other shops:
Foreign Exchange - AuthenticityRelease date: 2010-10-12; Music CD
Best price: $8.19
Price in other shops: