Can an MC from North Carolina and a producer from The Netherlands find common ground in Prince, Stevie Wonder and Coldplay? Absolutely. Can said MC sing for an entire CD without autotune? You betcha! In this very informative interview Phonte and Nicolay of The Foreign Exchange shared the method behind the “moodness” on their latest CD, Leave It All Behind.

TUD: What is story behind the album cover? Is this is a wedding that is about to happen or one that got called off?

Nicolay:

We kind of wanted [there] to be a duality in it. In technicality it is about to happen [the wedding] but the meaning of it just as much refers to a wedding that wouldn’t happen…some people saw a funeral element in it. We felt that it really told the story of the music without depicting something concrete. The chairs are all there, the nature element, but there’s all these things sort of missing. We leave the rest up to the imagination of the listener.

Phonte:

It can be either way. It is a wedding but that’s all I’ll say. I just want to leave more mystery to it. When I was writing this album I wasn’t necessarily trying to tell a story but it did end up having a loose narrative, it’s basically about the ups and downs of a relationship and trying to make it work. I wrote it at a time when I had just gotten married and was going through a lot of those changes so a lot of the lyrics are drawn from life experiences. I like writing love songs but I like writing songs that deal with all parts of love. Sometimes love can be a pain in the ass and I wanted the lyrics to reflect the good and bad and everything in between.

1.Daykeeper f/. Muhsinah

Nicolay: I think why it’s the first song is because it sums up the album in the length of one song. It’s a track that can represent the progression that we’ve made musically. I had done the track after we came back from Japan in November of ’06. It hit me there that I shouldn’t censor myself musically. I should do what I feel like doing as long as it’s great. It was the first track where we both realized what he had in terms of a possibility. It was the third track we recorded and you could hear the potential. It was horrible to mix because there are so many vocal parts to drive you crazy but it came out really good.

Phonte: Me and Nic just felt this was the best tone-setter for the album and where we were with the record. We knew we weren’t making a Connected part 2 so we thought the best way to draw the line in the sand was to kick the album off with something that was totally to the left of Connected. I met Muhsinah through my homeboy Cousin B and he put me onto her Myspace page and she had a song on there called “Millions.” We were on tour with Little Brother and Darien Brockington was my roommate and we must have played that song non-stop for three hours. I know she got a good 700 plays out of us alone. I reached out to her and she emailed me some of her music and we stayed in contact. From that first day I told her ‘you’re gonna be on the next Foreign Exchange album.

2.Take Off The Blues

Nicolay: I had done this sometime in the summer of ’06 after I moved to the states. It was kind of in a batch of stuff and I played it for Phonte and he really liked it. We got to do a lot of things for our listening pleasure, like the trumpet solo. It’s a friend of Phonte’s, Stan Graham, he’s really good. He does have the Roy Hargrove sound to it, that muffled trumpet.

Phonte: “Come Around” was a really big record on Connected and I knew that me and Nick were going way to the left on LIAB, so I wanted to give something that was a little bit of a bridge back to the first album, an olive branch to the people who were missing the Connected sound. So this is like “Come Around” on steroids.

3.All or Nothing

Nicolay: This is one of my favorites because from a beat perspective it’s kind of my nod to Prince and his brand of 80s pop. The vocals are really nice on this one.

Phonte: This was very personal to me. A lot of times you find yourself in relationships and you get into your little arguments and you feel like it’s the end. You like “I hate this motherfucker.” But once the problem passes you realize it really wasn’t nothing. The point was that love doesn” have to be all or nothing. It’s not gonna be good all the time, but when there is a problem it doesn’t mean you run for cover.

4. I Wanna Know

Nicolay: This was the first track we recorded for the album. It was a song where I just did the beat and he sent me the vocals and I built the beat around his shooby-doops. It’s one of the first slow jams that we’ve done as Foreign exchange. The slowest we’ve ever done. I like it because it feels like an Al Green Song.

Phonte: This was shortly after I did the “Paper Chaser” hook for Playaz Circle and Nick sent me the track. I really didn’t think much on it. I didn’t occur to me that I’d sung a full ballad. I’m really pleased with it. I was still trying to find my voice completely as a singer but I was going for it.

5. House of Cards f/Muhsinah

Nicolay: Phonte had come across her and was struck with her talent. She became his muse for this album the way Yazarah was for the first. Her voice definitely influenced the three tracks she’s on. She adds to the psychedelic element. Her style is really raw and direct. It’s not a Mariah Carey approach but really spontaneous way of doing lead vocals. The backing vocals she does are crazy. She adds to the edge of the record.

Phonte: It’s just really a rollercoaster ride and it’s evident in this middle part of the album, a roller coaster of emotions. It goes from one mood to another and that’s how relationships can be.

6. Sweeter Than You

Nicolay: I really like the drums on that one. Te had written it to a Musinah track originally but it wasn’t available anymore. So he asked me if I could do something with it. It was one of the few songs we’ve done where the vocals came first. The challenge was for me to do something really different. It turned out to be a real New Jazz type track and became the climax of firs half of the album.

7. Valediction

Phonte: Bilal and John Legend are two of my favorite singers but for this particular track I took my vocal cues from Chris Martin from Coldplay, a song called “Parachutes.” It was just an interlude on the album, only 45 seconds but it sounded like a confessional. I just wanted to write something that sounded like you may have stumbled upon it and you weren’t supposed to hear it. You went through Phonte’s drawer and found this old practice tape. So it sounds raw and desperate. It’s 5 am and I’m on the couch with a bottle of Jack Daniels pouring my heart out.

Nicolay: I’d done the beat as a sketch really and he had done the vocals and tied it in with some lyrics from the “Day Keeper” song. Originally we were going to have the Daykeeper reprieve at that point in the album and instead we put it underneath the first webisode we leaked over the summer. What I basically did was I took some of the parts of “Daykeeper” and some of the chords and put it at the end and reprieved it that way. It’s the gap that divides the first and second half of the album. It’s kind of an interlude almost that separates the darker material from the lighter material.

8. If She Breaks Your Heart f/ Yahzarah

Nicolay: That’s our Stevie Wonder cover and tribute. Te just loved that track. I’ve always been a fan of the Jungle Fever soundtrack but most people don’t list it in their top three Stevie albums. Songwriting wise it’s a really nice record but the production was very early 90s Stevie doing New Jack Swing. But Phonte really wanted to do that song. Zoe did the production on most of this track; the drums, the bass and the Rhodes. I added some piano and strings and Mark Mac of 4Hero got his actual string players to do an arrangement. It’s a true collaboration in that it’s Me, Zoe, Marc Mac, Yahzarah, Phonte, Matt on the flute at the end..it’s one of the bigger songs on the album because of the work that went into it. ?uestlove jokingly said it beat the original, which for me wasn’t the purpose. I just like the chords under the hook and the melody. It’s the perfect song for Yahzarah to do her thing. She couldn’t be missing from this album. I’ve heard a lot of people complain about the lack of raps but I’ve not heard anybody complain about Darien or Yahzarah being back, which to me is just as important to the soul that FE has been known for. I don’t understand how more people aren’t up on her stuff. She’s the full package; she looks and sounds amazing and writes great songs.

Phonte: Me and Yahzarah have done so many songs over the years and we have a chemistry that is so strong. I never have to second guess her choices.

9. If This is Love

Nicolay: This is much more me getting my nerd out on the electro stuff. I maybe wouldn’t have put that on the record two years ago but it shows the variety of stuff that we like. It’s very fast paced but still incredibly laid back. It’s one of the more European sounding tracks, maybe. Very electronic.

10. Something to Behold

Phonte: The vocal idea I got was from “1999″ by Prince, to have three different singers passing the baton, Muhsihan starting it off, me doing the bridge, D-Brock doing the chorus. Kind of like a relay race. It was amazing for me to write stuff and hear the vocalists sing it and give it new meaning. The part where I said “12 piece fried heart,” that’s love. Some people say I wanna bring you roses and corny shit. To me those are cliché’d versions of love. For you to bring your woman some wings on her lunch break, that shits special. You bring me wings from Yungs on my lunchbreak we gonna be in love forever. I write from a real perspective.

Nicolay: That one came together the old fashioned way with me just finding a record from these two pianists. They would do dueling piano virtuoso stuff in the 50s. The sample is a chop of some of their stuff. It’s more along the lines of how I worked on connected. The cool thing is it has three different vocal features and a real playful feel, worry free. It talks about falling in love again after a bad situation. The feeling of a new beginning.

11. Leave It All Behind

Phonte: It’s not about me leaving behind rapping. It’s probably the most straight ahead record on the album. It was inspired by the Sean Bell verdict. It was the last song we wrote for the album. The verdict came as a shock to me, maybe it shouldn’t have, but when it went down it fucked me up real bad. And seeing that I have two young boys it had me depressed thinking about the world they’re going to grow up in. Just thinking about that culminated in that song. Essentially I wrote it as a lullaby to help them go to sleep at night, something positive to let them know there is always a way to survive in the world. There’s a lot of craziness going on but as much as possible you gotta leave your fears behind. That was the message and meaning of that song.

Nicolay: There are a lot of levels to the title but one of those levels is that we wanted to be free to do something that we felt right. It’s ironic that I was reading about Kanye’s album release the other day and he said more or less the same thing. That he wanted to be free. Tells you something about the era we’re in.

The Foreign Exchange’s Leave It All Behind is in stores now!

The Urban Daily had the distinct pleasure of getting up close and personal with the lovely Cassie. The R&B chanteuse talked about her music and movie career, her relationship with Ryan Leslie and more. Watch our exclusive video below:

And for more Cassie, see what she thinks of gossip bloggers here!

Just like looking at Cassie, then click here for The Urban Daily’s “Why We Love Cassie” gallery here!

The Urban Daily was on-hand in New Orleans for the Voodoo Music Festival and came across an interesting development. Prior to the birth of Weezy F. Baby’s baby boy, the superstar was caught sporting some interesting hand jewelry. Is Lil Wayne a married man? Check out pics after the jump!

You be the judge! Check out the pics below:

Photos Taken By: Kevin L. Clark

I have a dream that the nation will be changed and the leader of this movement will be because of the people, as much as it is because of Barack Obama. When the polls finally close, it will signify a close of the Bush Administration and the thrill is exciting! But with everyone catching politico fever – what is there to look forward to?

Lightskin Negroes Back In Style:

People have been harping on us since El Debarge fell off and Wesley Snipes was in. With Obama in office, girlies will rip down those posters of Chris Brown and fall for the grown black man status that Madelyn Dunham’s grandbaby exudes. Us light-skin folks will be on every woman’s kiss-list when they know that the future president isn’t the only one who’s charismatic, well-spoken, has a good job and is educated.

Rappers Paying More Taxes:

Young Jeezy may have had The Recession, but it’s the people who are currently going through it. And while it may be all smiles on 106 & Park, the streets are looking to make a come-up in a not-so-nice way. After Obama takes that oath of office though, look for folks to start pawning jewels to make up for the tax increases that they’ll have to pay. Hell, you never wondered why Jay-Z is cutting off all those dependants?

Better Lovin’:

We livin’ in a climate of “bust it, babies” and the thugs who love ‘em have nothing more creative to say than that. So, with Michelle being the First Lady, respect is due – off rip! Hopefully the trickle down theory works and the relationships between black men and women regain some modicum of admiration, passion and respect that seems to have fallen by the wayside over the years.

Reparations:

The debate is there… some want it, others don’t… Spike Lee brought it out full-blast in the only way he could with 40 Acres and a Mule being the catalyst to some classic works of art. But will black people be compensated for the labor that they’ve put in to creating this country? As long as it doesn’t go full-blown Chappelle skit status, I wouldn’t mind getting a healthy check, but as soon as we get it – then Bush’s getcha-gotcha would be enacted and USD would be changed into Ameros – still keeping us broke. Eff Bush on the real!

Closure:

We’ve been whipped, beaten, hung, shot, stabbed and in our own Machiavellian way – we’ve managed to survive. From Bed-Stuy to Botswana, it’s hard not to make a plea for the cause of black folks everywhere and the struggle that has been fought for since Lord knows when, but if we look back at history to see what Nelson Mandela did for the self-esteem of his people, then Barack Obama could finally shut the door on the stereotypes that have plagued black America.

‘Clef’s non-profit organization – Yéle Haiti – has continued to touch thousands upon thousands of impoverished Haitians. With his music continuing to be celebrated, Wyclef Jean may not be a serious candidate for the White House, but he’s an agent of change nonetheless.

For more of Wyclef’s political views, watch NewsOne’s exclusive video below:

Black folks in Alaska? How did they get there? Who would they be voting for? See the cold truth as Smokey flies to America’s Icebox to find them.

Now, the premiere episode of the BlackPlanet Universe Video Exclusive, “On The Road with Smokey Fontaine.”

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO!

Yours truly was given an unique experience unlike most of the trips that I’ve been on. Don’t Lose Your Day Job has afforded me some pretty cool trips to some fly places like Los Angeles, San Diego and Puerto Rico. But on this particular day, Philadelphia was the scene and The Happening was what was happenin’. For anyone familiar with M. Night Shyamalan and his work, you know that it’s a huge stretch of the imagination in order to get his “twists.” His track record speaks for himself – 8 films, 7 Oscar nomination and one HUGE project that hopes to add his name amongst the greats like Jackson, Spielberg and Lucas.

I made it into the City of Brotherly Love via Amtrak. It was my first time ever riding the train. A fun endeavor in itself, I’d truly rather ride the train down the East Coast instead of taking a flight. Fox was so good to me by putting me in the famed Rittenhouse Hotel where a young guy by the name of Ludacris stayed down the hall from me. He was in town to help promote his new movie Max Payne.

Once I met up with Kavita Smith and our caravan made its way to its destined location, a million thoughts flooded my mind. Having been an avid Shyamalan watcher it became apparent that I really didn’t know too much about the guy. I never really watched the DVD extras until I watched The Happening the night before I left for Philly and I never paid attention to the guy outside noticing that he really likes to put himself in his movies.

So, I took the tone of his movies, added it with the fact that he must be a weird guy and came to the conclusion that the best thing about this trip was the fact that I can get some sightseeing in. But once the 38-year-old filmmaker stepped in the room to do his on-camera interview in front of the press, I learned that no one on the corner got swagger like Shyamalan.

The Indian-American brotha came in with a united-we-stand type outfit and immediately had the press perked up. Homeboy had a uniqueness to himself that hinted at how he could come up with some of the weird shiite that he could get greenlighted from Hollywood. Over the course of 25-minutes, homie spit his ‘mation about the new flick, his extensive knowledge on the habits of Kubrick, Hitchcock and Spielberg.

Once the guy wrapped up, he made his way to prepare for the one-on-one, but seeing yours truly on his way out, son gave me the soul pound and kept it moving. Confused I wrote it off on my being the only black guy at the event. Time went by (my interview was set for 2:00pm) and after going over what I was going to say in my head I finally met M. Night Shyamalan. It was almost like we had a secret handshake (it took at least a minute to go through) and we smiled this hood appreciative smile.

It was then when I figured that Shyamalan was fooling Hollywood with his “uniqueness.”

I brought up the topic of how black filmmakers other than Singleton, Spike Lee and Fuqua can break out of their marketplace and make a better statement with their projects. “Kev… The black filmmakers have an already hard time making it in Hollywood and there needs to be no limits,” he muses. “I say this because we have already been through all the ins and outs of Hollywood and that’s a pain unlike anything else.” The “we” kept coming up. Respect was definitely due to realize that Shyamalan saw himself as an “us” man, instead of an “I” mentality.

We laughed about Obama subliminally clowning McCain, he explained his plans on Jay-Z conquering the business world like he has the entertainment world and elaborated on how Avatar: The Last Airbender will be his best work – placing him amongst his peers: Kubrick, Spielberg and Spike Lee.

All in all, The Happening may not be what’s happenin’ – according to critics – but no one the corner got swagger like Shyamalan. Word to Haley Joel Osment!

Before he began his 3 1/2 year sentence Prodigy granted the Urban Daily a candid interview where he detailed the circumstances of his arrest, the making of his latest CD, HNIC 2, and why some of the biggest names in rap shouldn’t be trusted.

It isn’t easy being Cassie. Despite her model looks, hit records and a bidding movie career, Diddy‘s “official girl” also has her fair share of haters. The Urban Daily recently caught up with Cass (we’re cool like that now) and here’s what she told us about the “Assie” backlash:

If she’s fine and she sings, chances are the Soul Diggaz have laced her with a beat. In this clip Newark, NJ’s production trio of K-Mack, Bless and singer/song writer Corte Ellis talk to the Urban Daily about getting Britney Spears “Naked.”

Watch as they tell the Urban Daily how they handle this country’s recession and why bloggers are obsessed with the wrong people.

If you weren’t born when Mint Condition first came on the scene, chances are you were probably conceived to one of their hits. Classics like “Breakin My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)” and “You Send Me Swingin’” have been quiet storm staples for years. Now the band from the Twin Cities is back with a new CD, E-Life. The Urban Daily caught up with them backstage at B.B. Kings in NYC and they discussed how they made a whole new batch of baby making music for the digital minded.

In this hilarious Urban Daily exclusive, Kidz In The Hall’s Naledge and Double-O break down their new CD The In Crowd and push the limits of arrogant chatter.

Solange Knowles has quite a story to tell. A mom and wife by the time she was 18 and divorced before she could legally drink, Beyonce’s younger sister could probably tell big sis a thing or two about life. But like any real artist she is putting her experiences into her work, not the tabloids.

Today (August 26) her sophomore CD, SoL-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, hits stores and the Urban Daily caught a glimpse of this rising star at a GIANT magazine photo shoot. Is she comfortable going it alone? How does she feel about being in Bey’s shadow? Watch this exclusive video to find out!

Think you’re living the life? Rick Ross doesn’t believe you, you need more people. So he invited the Urban Daily behind the scenes of his video shoot for “This Is The Life” featuring Trey Songz to show you how to do this, son.

It’s safe to say that The Boss had a “burning” desire to get his point across.

When I’m not interviewing, I’m probably having a cocktail, so I figured – why not do both at the same time? So welcome to “Drinks With…”, where we loosen up celebrities with a cocktail or four and chat about anything and everything. Our first victim was David Banner, whose album, The Greatest Story Ever Told, was released on Tuesday (July 15). However, few are aware that, aside from rapping, Banner is a political figure, activist and actor. We met up with him at New York City’s Blue Owl bar to chat, and he had more than a few things to say about the industry today. Check it out below!

Busta Rhymes has a unique way of saying “please.” The 36-year-old MC has a cigarette-stained baritone that gives weight to even the most polite requests. “Please, you can’t leave,” he told me in the midst of what would become a six-hour celebration/listening session for his newest project, Blessed. “It’s important that you hear it from beginning to end,” he says. “Let me talk to your boss.”

It’s not that I wanted to leave. Track after track Busta was busy making a case for album of the year. From the chilling confessional “Decisions” to the hilariously inventive “I’mma Go Get Mine,” he had the audience enthralled. It was just taking a really, really long time.

“I’ve never felt this happy,” Busta said, clearly proud of the finished product.

The session at NY’s Platinum Sound recording studios was slated to begin at 4pm and some eager listeners had even shown up an hour early. Bussa Bus finally showed up close to 5pm, and after having everyone remove their cell phones from the room he began playing each track. Though the captive audience was plied with vodka, cognac and a full spread of food, two hours became three, and three became four as he gave personal and hilarious anecdotes about each of the dozen or so songs he played.

“There were six or seven Spanish chicks walking down Collins Ave and Pharrell asks her to come say something on the record,” he says of “G-Stroke,” a pulsating rump shaker tailor made for its South Beach birthplace. “She was from Columbia and could barely speak English. I had to let Pharrell work out the translation.”

Blessed contains all of the energy and attitude of vintage Busta Rhmyes but is balanced by a more personal perspective lacking from his previous work.

“My Mother asked, ‘Can you give me an album before it’s all said and done where you’re not talking so reckless?’” he shared. “I love my mom so much that I owed her that. [Plus] minimizing the cursing was important to me. That Don Imus shit bothered me.”

So in exchange for my undivided attention Busta granted The Urban Daily an impromptu on-camera exclusive. Of course we were only allowed time for “one question” since he had to leave for a European tour in the morning. Listen to Busta talk about the struggles that fueled the making of this album.