In Hip-Hop, the bond between MC and producer has always gone hand-and-hand. Over the years, there have been a lot of memorable tandems, trios, and quartets that have managed to stay on the same page day in and day out in order to complete classic bodies of material to be shared with their most gracious fans.

Back in 2004, the Hip-Hop world was treated with another gift when two of the most talented artists in their respective fields joined together in one union to create a unique and authentic sound all their own.
 
European-born producer Matthijs “Nicolay” Rook and Phonte Coleman from the North Carolina duo of Little Brother were able form the Foreign Exchange; where they released their first offering in Connected. Trading data back and forth via email for the project proved to be a useful tool, as the two of them exhibited a distinctive brand of chemistry that sometimes eludes artists who are very familiar with each other.

The Little Brother associate has been the beneficiary primarily by being able to express his lyrical dexterity over sounds provided by 9th Wonder through The Listening and The Minstrel Show. Now he gets the chance to once again reunite with his Foreign Exchange brother-in-arms, as they get ready to release th eir second collaborative effort, Leave It All Behind.
 
The only thing that has changed this time around is the fact that OkayPlayer message boards won’t be needed for communication, as Nicolay has relocated himself from the Netherlands to North Carolina. Besides that, everything else seems to be in place for the producer and MC to continue the path they started on four years ago. 

SixShot.com: What can people expect to hear from Leave It All Behind?
 
Phonte: Well on this album, we just wanted to create something new and completely different. It’s always good when you have the chance to work with people you really admire.
 
SixShot.com: How was the creative vibe, were you two always on the same page?
 
Nicolay: The vibe is always a good one because Phonte and I work so well together, and we have a really good working relationship. So it was like everything just fell into place.
 
SixShot.com: What’s the whole concept behind Foreign Exchange series? Is there anything in particular you guys want to accomplish with it?
 
Phonte: I think the whole idea behind everything was to just make good music at the end of the day, and I think that were able to really accomplish that as whole with this project as well as with the first one.
 
SixShot.com: Where do you usually draw your inspiration from to create?
 
Nicolay: I usually just throw Phonte a couple of tracks to see if he can catch vibe off some them, and we just take it from there. That usually works out pretty well for the both of us.
 
SixShot.com: Nicolay, besides the projects you’ve done with Phonte and Kay, do you ever shop your material around to other artists?
 
Nicolay: I feel like at this point in my career, I’ve grown into so much more than just a “beat maker.” Right now I think I’m more along the lines of a composer. Just throwing a whole bunch of beats on a CD and sending them out just doesn’t appeal to me. I think my talent has grown far more than that right now.
 
Sixshot.com: Phonte, do you plan to release any new projects outside of working with Nicolay and Little Brother?
 
Phonte: Right now, I’m just not too sure. I guess I’ll just see how everything goes, and take it from there. At this point it’s really hard to say, but if the opportunity presents itself, we’ll just see what happens.
 
SixShot.com: Nicolay, is there anything in particular that makes you want to do whole projects with artists as opposed to just giving them a few tracks here and there for their album?
 
Nicolay: I think Danger Mouse said it best when he said that he just wants to make whole albums now instead of just producing a song here and there. When you get the opportunity to produce an entire album, you can express yourself a lot more rather than just trying to do it on one or two songs. You can slow it down if you want to, and when you feel like it, you can switch it up and go faster. Or just have the opportunity to try a lot of different things. But when you only do one or two songs on an album, you’re limited to what can do.
 
Sixshot.com: Do you feel as if your album will be overlooked since it doesn’t go with the conventional Hip-Hop that’s now getting all the attention?
 
Phonte: I don’t think so, because the people that are looking for our type of music will be able to find it. I know what we’re doing is far from being considered mainstream, but I feel people still appreciate what we’re doing even though we may not be what is popular at the moment.
 
Sixshot.com Also, do you feel as if lyrics are taking a backseat to all the other stuff that’s going in Hip-Hop besides the actual music?
 
Phonte: No… I think there are plenty of MC’s still doing their thing, even if they’re getting overshadowed with all the other stuff going on in Hip-Hop right now. But as for being lyrical, there are always going to be cats out there that are still putting it down, you just have to find them. There are still plenty of talented cats out there that really work hard on their craft.
 
SixShot.com: I had the opportunity to talk to a few other producers, and they said the quality of music is going down because so many people think they can produce nowadays. Do you find that to be a true statement?
 
Nicolay: No, I think it’s just the opposite. You might have a lot more people out there producing, but I think the quality of work is still very good. Right now there is so much technology out there for people to experiment with, and I think that it’s only going to get better.
 
SixShot.com: Also, from a music aspect, most people move into larger cities for exposure such as New York or LA. What made you choose North Carolina instead of going to a larger city?
 
Nicolay: Coming from a small country in Europe, and just the fact that my wife is from North Carolina, I thought it would be a good fit for me. Even though like you said people usually travel to bigger cities such as New York or LA, I thought if I moved to one of those cities, that it would probably be too overwhelming for me since I’m originally from a small country. But moving to North Carolina was probably the best thing for me, because I’ve made great friends, and I actually have people here who genuinely care about me.