Dutch Producer Nicolay has decided to do it alone on his newest album. As part of The Foreign Exchange of Phonte of Little Brother fame, he created one of the best albums of 2004 with Connected. Without Phonte, he follows up with his latest release entitled Here. It's a bold move to step away from underneath the Foreign Exchange umbrella, but it is a move that seems to have paid off.
While the album lacks a rappers anywhere near as good as Phonte, Nicolay has managed to produce an album that at times is musically brilliant. There are times that you might be listening to a beat so close that you fail to catch what is being said. After a brief instrumental intro that sets the tone of the album, we are hit with one of the best sounding R&B tracks of the year. "I Love The Way" features Darien Brockington, who was also on Connected. It is the soulful beat that flows perfectly with Brockington's voice, with the result being a head banger with a touch of soul. The subtle audio crackling in the background is also a nice touch.
As mentioned earlier, the rappers featured on Here are hardly household names, yet they all add something to the album, backing up the fine production -- in particular, Black Spade, who is featured on three of the eleven cuts, the first being, "I Am The Man." Yes, the title is pure male bravado, but the track demonstrates that Black Spade does have talent. "Many styles / the pen that I'm writing with has many miles / I'm a water baby like Davis / your skills are rented, so its time to give em back to Avis." He also spits decent on "Good Days Have Gone," but he is totally overshadowed by a beautiful beat that sounds like an Al Green throwback with added bass.
In between these Black Spade featured tracks, Nicolay adds "I Give Her Everything," an instrumental that while not sounding out of place, does seem to go on for a little too long. Maybe it's the slightly annoying repetitive vocal sample used, because once again the beat is impressive, mixing piano keys and a mean electric guitar rift. "Way It Used To Be" with Wiz Khalifa is completely unknown to most no doubt, and unfortunately his verse won't have you remembering his name for the future either, as he spits a pretty standard generic verse. But accompanied by a sample and key driven beat, the track is still very listenable. "Let It Shine For Me" is another instrumental, but this one is much shorter and more effective than its predecessor. Again, a vocal sample is used, but is this time is joined by a soft guitar rift and gentle sounding keys.
Black Spade returns as the album draws to a close with the dirty sounding "The End Is Near." His distorted vocals sound more effective during his first verse before a heavy sounding drum is introduced. "N----s don't know the math and want cal-cu-lators / I put God first cuz they anit nothing greater... coming up with wack sh--, but wanna get in the Fader." Yahzarah, who is also featured on Connected, makes an appearance here, with a track that wouldn't have sounded out of place on the previously mentioned album. Her sweet vocals fit perfect with the mood music from Nicolay.
The journey on Here closes with the same instrumental offered to us at the top of the album, tying up the project nicely. However, there is a track after the outro, "My Story," which seems a little oddly placed, featuring Kay and Sy Spade. It is a soulful, clap heavy beat with a sweetly sung hook that manages to elevate the track and makes you wonder why it wasn't a little higher up in the track order.
With Here, Nicolay has created a perfect mood music album. While the beats don't sound as naturally organic and fresh as they did on Connected, he has managed to reinvent parts of his sound to keep its musical uniqueness while sticking his already successful formula. While lesser producers are over there, Nicolay is Here doing his thing.
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