“R&B” is a term that most hip-hop heads view negatively, as our favorite 90′s rappers re-branded it as “Rap & Bullshit”. And with good reason, since that era, we’ve seen countless crooners take classic beats and polish them up for the knownots. Such as is the case of Trey Songz’s latest, “Na Na”, for example, which rips off The Fugees’ “Fu-Gee-La”. It’s a practice that’s been going on for years, robbing the genre of originality and leaving a foul taste in the mouth of many. Who stole the soul?

We saw a brief revival of respectable R&B music in the early 2000′s with the “neo-soul” movement, populated by artists like Erykah Badu, Maxwell, and MusiqSoulchild, but with the rampant commercialization in both hip-hop and R&B these days, acts like this are few and far in between.

For a decade now, Little Brother’s Phonte Coleman has been teaming with Dutch producer Nicolay for a series of albums under the moniker The Foreign Exchange. It started with over-the-innanet file trading, as the two were internationally separated, having never met in person. The end result was some of Tay’s best material, showing not only does he have skills on the mic, but some killer vocal chops as well.

On their fifth album together, Love In Flying Colors, Phonte and Nicolay show that their chance meeting was more than just a fluke, as they have gotten this thing down to a science. It’s hard to place this in either category of “R&B” or “neo-soul”, as this is its own thing entirely. Perhaps the most accurate description is simply “classic soul”.

Nicolay’s production pulls heavily from greats like Stevie Wonder, or more recently, Jamiroquai, giving the album a lush, fully instrumented sound, showing just how far he’s come as a producer in the last ten years. Songs like “If I Knew Then” and “Right After Midnight” draw heavily from 70′s and 80′s sounds, starting the album off on the right note. This continues at length, before dipping into the more hip-hop driven “Better”, one of the few tracks that finds Phonte busting out his rap mic.

“Listen To The Rain” is also very impressive, meshing acoustic guitars and sweeping strings, while “Call It Home” blends drum-and-bass rhythms with perfectly mixed pianos and a sticky bassline. The four-on-the-floor driven “The Moment” is hardly an “EDM” crossover attempt, but more of a classic, soulful house entry one might find in a late night DJ Spinna set.

While The Foreign Exchange might be a stretch for some hip-hop heads to handle, there’s no denying the quality of the music presented here. Phonte and Nicolay have developed amazing chemistry together, as both artists have really come into their own. The final song, “When I Feel Love”, sings of “two hearts that beat in perfect time”. While obviously referring to a romantic couple, it’s also a fitting description for the in-sync creativity of The Foreign Exchange.

Tracks from The Foreign Exchange’s fourth studio album, Love In Flying Colors, in stores now on +FE Music.

“Call It Home” is the first single taken from The Foreign Exchange’s upcoming fourth album, Love In Flying Colors. The full single bundle is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon now and includes the single mix and the instrumental version of “Call It Home” as well as non-album B-Side “Pity”. Love In Flying Colors drops 9/24/13 on +FE Music.

Phonte and Nicolay will return as The Foreign Exchange, with their next LP, Love In Flying Colors. Today they release a pair of teasers for the project, “Him” and “Her”.

“So What If It Is” is The Foreign Exchange’s new single from their +FE Music: The Reworks remix compilation. Spanning 2 discs, the specially priced set features remixes from Nicolay, Zo! 4hero, ?uestlove & James Poyser, and serves as a primer for +FE Music’s upcoming releases: ManMade by Zo! and The Foreign Exchange’s long-awaited 4th LP, Love In Flying Colors.

+FE Music proudly presents the “Shibuya Session EP”, a collaboration between Nicolay and the Raleigh-based exploratory jazz trio The Hot At Nights, led by 8-string guitar virtuoso (and The Foreign Exchange guitarist) Chris Boerner with Matt Douglas on sax/woodwinds and Nick Baglio on drums.

The EP was recorded at Sound Pure Studios in Durham NC and features new interpretations and arrangements of eight instrumental compositions from Nicolay’s 2009 album “City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya”.

01. Shibuya Station
02. Rain In Ueno Park
03. Satellite
04. Meiji Shrine
05. The Inner Garden
06. Crossing
07. Bullet Train
08. Departure

Nicolay w/ The Hot At Nights – “Shibuya Session EP”

Are you sure you want to be a rapper?

One more from Phonte and Nicolay’s third LP, Authenticity, available now.

Phonte and Nicolay discuss the history of Foreign Exchange in this three-part mini-documentary.

If Leonardo Di Caprio made music he would be Phonte — performing “Inception” on his love interest, to figure out if she is dreaming of him. Another gorgeous groove from FE.

LISTEN: The Foreign Exchange “Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me”

Garth Trinidad’s interview with The Foreign Exchange prior to their new album release Authenticity.

Nodfactor asked Phonte to explain the “I’m the Quincy Jones producer of Little Brother” comment and what it is like working with Nicolay verses 9th Wonder.

   What also differentiates Here from the Foreign Exchange outing is the list of guests. Gone is the introspective and witty Phonte (but don’t fret, another FE album is indeed in the works) and in to replace him are the likes of Wiz Khalifa, Kay and the aforementioned Black Spade. Although this list of emcees doesn’t slouch on the mic, they don’t have the impact as Phonte, Von Pea, Big Pooh and the rest did on the FE album. While “The End is Near” flounders about, the Kay and Sy Smith assisted “My Story” grooves on wonderfully to close out the album. Meanwhile, Nic also tosses in a few instrumental treats in the form of “Let It Shine For Me” and “Give Her Everything”, bith of which give the album an incredible personality. The beats don’t beg for an emcee, and instead breeze through the album effortlessly, assisting in the creation of Here.

   Here may not be as impressive as Connected, but that is simply because of the surprise element that allowed it to come virtually out of nowhere. Here allows Nic to diversify his craft, not pigeonholing him to the one style that he mastered on the FE album. Here should elevate his portfolio and hopefully help him expand his production to other emcees who desperately need it.