Music producer Nicolay on the Prince song that changed his life

Episode notes

(Photo credit: Chris Charles)

Joining us this week to talk about the song that changed his life is Nicolay. He’s best known as the producer and beatmaker for The Foreign Exchange. The duo formed in 2002 in what may  be the most 2002 way possible. They met on a message board.

Nicolay, who lived in the Neatherlands, met rapper Phonte on the hip hop website Okayplayer. Phonte lived in North Carolina and also performed in the hip-hop group Little Brother. 

Nicolay and Phonte eventually recorded and exchanged tracks across the Atlantic ocean, hence the name the Foreign Exchange. It’s maybe not the most novel approach to making music now, but again, it was 2002.

The Foreign Exchange are more than just a beatmaker and an MC act. Their albums span funk, R&B, hip-hop and pop.

It’s been over two decades since The Foreign Exchange started up and seven years since their last full length project. However, earlier this year, they reunited and dropped a new single called “The Grey.”

Nicolay’s also been working on some solo music. He just released an album called Terra Firma, which includes features from Phonte and past Bullseye guest Sy Smith.

When we asked Nicolay about the song that changed his life, he picked a great one. Maybe one of the greatest ever? A Prince song that we were very surprised hadn’t been picked yet.

CORRECTION: A version of this post stated that Nicolay, the guest, is from Norway. He is in fact from the Netherlands. We regret the error.