The Foreign Exchange's latest album – "Takes From The Land Of Milk And Honey."
Matthijs Rook, better know as Nicolay is a well known hip-hop and R&B producer from the Netherlands. He is one half of The Foreign Exchange, a group created with American rapper Phonte. The two artists created Foreign Exchange the independent label and have been releasing music since the early 2000’s.
Since his first release, Nicolay has changed direction in his approach to managing the music industry and evolving his own sound. Nicolay attempts to keep an analogue sound to his music with the use of live instruments rather than using samples. In an interview with HipHopDX (which you can read here) Nicolay recognizes the change of style in his music, comparing the first album that was strongly influenced by hip hop to the newer neo-soul tracks.
Nicolay opens up with his opinion on artists and rappers in the hip hop scene today. He has an understanding of the importance of online presence stating “I think especially nowadays with the fact that it’s very much a young man’s game with social media, and a lot of these guys are spot on with all of that."
During the interview Nicolay starts talking about his own collaborations with young artists in the past, and most notably with Wiz Khalifa. Connected by a friend of Nicolay’s at BBE, the producer was impressed with the teenager’s flow. After meeting and building rapport, Nicolay decided to put him on the track, with what used to be off his solo album. “Wiz Khalifa is somebody that I worked with back in 2005 and he was like 15-years-old. I had him on one of my solo albums before anybody even knew who he was." Nicolay mentions a sense of pride having been involved with the younger Wiz and seeing how far he has progressed.
For over a decade, Nicolay has been there to witness the changes which the music industry has transitioned through. In the interview, the hip-hop producer comments on the struggles of adapting to new music consumption saying, “The only thing we can control is the music; we can make the music as good as we can." Nicolay tries to keep an optimistic approach to the way music consumption has changed stating that, ”Before streaming we wouldn’t normally reach internationally for instance." He goes on in the interview to express the importance of keeping an optimistic attitude and not giving into surrounding negativity leading towards a downward spiral in the music industry.
You can check out the latest releases and news on The Foreign Exchange here.
By Courteney Tobin for RAPstation.com
