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Correspondence

Have you ever had a pen pal? Let me correct that, that was a techonlogically-incorrect statement, after all, who writes correspondence on paper anymore?

You ever met someone on AIM, ICQ, MSN , etc? How about a message board? If you have, have you ever crafted a music masterpiece without even meeting?

Well, Phonte Coleman of Little Brother fame and Nicolay (a producer from The Netherlands) did so in 2004. Their album, aptly titled "The Foreign Exchange" was born out of countless IM chats and file transfers. Phonte and his crew would craft the lyrics, Nicolay the sounds and voila! Critical and fan acclaim ensued.

By the way, these guys didn't meet until after the album was ready to be put on the racks folks, how's that for foreign relations?

Well, this time around, the duo is sort of reinventing the wheel. While their first critically acclaimed effort was mainly a hip-hop album with battle raps and common rap guy raps galore, "Leave it all behind" is much different sonically and vocally.

Those who know Phonte know the boy can sang. But to do an entire original album of it? Well, I say proudly, move over Kanyeezee.

Their album is due out on October 14 as a digital download. Later on the CD version for those still adhering to the plastic. I won't easily endorse music on this blog, but if you want to hear something rich in sound and soulful, check them out. And while you are at it, check out their previous effort, Connected, guaranteed to make your ears go wow.

Posted by Maurel Merette at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)