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Phonte and Nicolay, collectively known as The Foreign Exchange, share their new 12″ single, “The Grey” b/w “I Couldn’t Love You More”
The special double release commemorates the 20th anniversary of The Foreign Exchange and features BeMyFiasco
In 2002, two artists from opposite ends of the world– North Carolina emcee/singer Phonte of Little Brother, and Dutch producer Nicolay –engaged in a fully online, transatlantic musical collaboration that would help redefine modern music.
On August 24, 2004, the novelty of their collaboration became their namesake, and they released their seminal debut album ‘Connected’ as The Foreign Exchange.
Over the course of 20 years, Nicolay and Phonte have both individually and collectively set a precedent for what indie artists can achieve, and revolutionized the way artists collaborate today.
With a Grammy-nomination and their very own +FE Music label, the duo commemorates their 20-year-long journey as The Foreign Exchange by sharing a new 12″ single “The Grey” b/w “I Couldn’t Love You More (dub)”.
Released today (6.25.2024) on all digital streaming platforms, the dual release covers the musical gamut of The Foreign Exchange.
“The Grey”, which serves as the theme song for ESPN’s new “30 for 30” film “False Positive“, finds Phonte spitting razor sharp bars, with a hook delivered by the silky vocals of +FE Music signee BeMyFiasco.
In contrast, Phonte and Nicolay go full quiet storm mode on “I Couldn’t Love You More”, a beautiful rendition of Sade’s classic record.
“Rhyming and covering my favorite Sade song felt like the best way to encompass all that The Foreign Exchange represents. We’ve covered a lot of ground over the past 20 years. This single represents us coming back to square one.” –Phonte
180g numbered color vinyl of the 12″ single are limited to 300 copies worldwide, and available to purchase here.
ESPN’s new “30 for 30” film “False Positive“, which debuted on June 11, 2024, was scored in its entirety by Nicolay.
The film tells the story of former Olympic Track and Field athlete and world record holder Butch Reynolds, who was falsely accused and banned for drug use by the International Amateur Athletic Federation.
As a fan of Nicolay’s work, the film’s director, Ismail Al-Amin, first tapped the classically trained multi-instrumentalist from the Netherlands for the project in 2021.
“Ismail booked The Foreign Exchange for an event in Akron, Ohio years ago. He was keen on creating a decidedly soulful score, but with a European twist, as the sport of track and field traditionally is very popular there, and a lot of the crucial action in the film takes place overseas. He felt that I could be the right man for the job. This particular project represents twenty years of experience and accumulated style… the scope of this project and the sheer quantity of music required really allowed me to double down on it all… There’s quite literally a little bit of everything in this score. While I was working on some initial sketches for the film, I came upon the idea of mirroring all of the different stages of Butch’s life and career with the evolution of my own music over the years. So in the early stages of the documentary, the music is largely beat-driven and optimistic, mirroring the sound and feel of my own early years. As the situation gets more complicated and inevitably darker and more emotional, so does the music.” –Nicolay
Watch the “False Positive” trailer below…
Nicolay has also been hard at work on his forthcoming solo album, which is currently slated for an early summer release.
The project’s latest single “Roll Up (I Can’t Lose My High)” released in April, just four days ahead of the 4/20 holiday, and can be streamed/purchased here.
