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Zo! blesses fans with ….Just Visiting Three EP

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Ok, I’m grown man doing the happy dance.  Yup, I just admitted that.  Zo! has released …Just Visiting Three upon the world. If you have been follow Soulified, you know that we all are huge fans of Zo.  This release just reinforces that feeling.  Being the third in a series, it just keeps getting better.  It brings some great versions of  Steely Dan’s “Black Cow”, Nina Vidal’s “Driving” sung by Sy Smith, and a a few other gems that will make you want and beg for more. Even more impressive than the songs, are the artists that he works with on this project.  Along with the aforementioned Sy Smith, there is Erro, Phonte, Jeanne Jolly and Nicholas Ryan Gant.  Have I mentioned that this is Free? With so much bad music out there, it refreshing, welcome and great that this quality of an project can be found at any price.

 

…Just Visiting Three [Download not found]

…Just Visiting Two [Download not found]

…Just Visiting One [Download not found]

The Foreign Exchange- Authenticity (album review/listen/video)

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The super duo that make up The Foreign Exchange, Phonte (rapper/singer) and Nicolay (producer) are back 2 years later coming off they’re Grammy nominated sophomre album “Leace All Behind” with they’re 3rd installment “Authenticity.” And this time they have an official 3rd member in the group by the name of ZO! (singer/producer)

I know I’m a little tardy with my review on this album being that it dropped Oct 12th but couldn’t help the lap top issues I had but I’m black in business yall and had plenty of time to listen to this album and when I say I’ve listened to it I’m talking about playing it all day everyday since it came out. It’s that tight yall. As a matter of fact I’m going to go on record and call this one a masterpiece. All 11 tracks are dope. Whether your in love or out of love your going to dig this album and it’s going to get you through what ever mood your going through. It’s always a treat to hear Phonte sing because I’m so use to hearing him spit with his rap crew Little Brother and he truly show’s his vocal versatility on this one hitting high/ low notes and even some falsetto. Aside from the vocals the words behind them have great message, content, and meaning. Put all that together on top of the production from Nicolay with a sprinkle of ZO! and you have the masterpiece that I speak of.

When asked about the albums title Phonte speaks, “I think every band reaches that point when they come into their own and find a sound that is distinctively theirs. The title refers to me and Nic’s journey to find our own unique space within this vast musical landscape. The biggest challenge as a musician is to find that ‘thing’ that makes you who you are. But I think we’re getting there, and we’re finding our way more and more with each record.”

Since I have yet to catch a live performance here in Cali I’ve been on the hunt to find some recent video to get me by till they touch down and they’re all as dope live as they are in the studio. Here’s one of my favorite songs off the album called “Make Me A Fool.”

“Make Me A Fool” live in New York’s at B.B. King’s

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug7U771Ycp0

1. The Last Fall
2. Authenticity
3. Eyes To The Sky
4. All Roads
5. Fight For Love
6. Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me
7. Don’t Wait feat. Darien Brockington
8. Make Me A Fool feat. Jesse Boykins III & Median
9. Everything Must Go
10. Laughing At Your Plans feat. Chantae Cann
11. This City Ain’t The Same Without You feat. YahZarah

For more info and to purchase the album go to The Foreign Exchange’s Official website here.

Listen to the album…

[audio: The Foreign exchange copy.mp3]

5 out of 5 Cartons

-Black Milk

Zo! To Release a Sunstorm Upon Us

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If you are like me, then you know that July is a hot month in the music scene. Coming up on the horizon is a project from a producer who has been putting it down on the soul scene for years. On July 27th the new project from Zo! “Sunstorm” will hit the shelves.

If you are lost to whom Zo! is you must have been hiding under a rock. From Zo! and Tigallo Love the 80’s to the Grammy nominated “Leave it All Behind” from Foreign Exchange. Zo! has been part of some of the best soul music released over the last few years.

“Sunstorm” will feature an amazing line up from Yahzarah, Phonte from Foreign Exchange, Eric Roberson, Jesse Boykins III, and Sy Smith. Sy is featured on the first single “Greatest Weapon of All Time”.  It is a nice laid back up-tempo jam to get the party started.

Just based off of the 2 singles released, “This Could Be the Night” being the other, “Sunstorm” is shaping up to be an instant classic. If you can’t wait for something from Zo!, download two of his FREE projects if you have not already, [Download not found] and [Download not found].

Pre-order the album and look for Zo! and Foreign Exchange to hit a city near you.

Tracklisting below:

1. Greater Than the Sun f. Phonte
2. Greatest Weapon of All Time f. Sy Smith

[audio: Zo!%20-%20Greatest%20Weapon%20Of%20All%20Time%20feat.%20Sy%20Smith.mp3]Download Track [Download not found]
3. Say How You Feel f. Carlitta Durand & Phonte
4. For Leslie
5. Be Your Man f. Darien Brockington
6. Free Your Mind f. Lady Alma
7. SunStorm f. YahZarah
8. If I Could Tell You No f. Jesse Boykins III
9. This Could Be The Night f. Eric Roberson, Darien Brockington & Rapper Big Pooh

[audio: 01%20This%20Could%20Be%20The%20Night%20feat.%20Eric%20Roberson%2C%20Darien%20Brockington%20%26%20Rapper%20Big%20Pooh.mp3]Download Track [Download not found]
10. Flight of The Blackbyrd f. Phonte
11. All Is Well With Love f. Chantae Cann
12. Make Luv 2 Me f. Monica Blaire

Nicolay’s “City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya” for $5

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You may have heard of the awesomer group Foreign Exchange.  Well….half of the group is Nicolay, who has puts out some quality music.  He released a unreal chill album called “City Lights Vol 2: Shibuya”  It was released last September, right before “Leave It All Behind” was released.  Anyway, it’s now available on Amazon for $5 for the entire month of February.  Now, you can’t beat that with a stick.  If you want to get a sample of his music check out the “Tribute to Nicolay EP” that was released a few weeks ago.

Soulified’s Favorite Group/Collaboration Of 2009: The Foreign Exchange

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Foreign Exchange

Website/MySpace/FaceBook/YouTube/Twitter

This honor of being Soulified’s Favorite Group/Collaboration of 2009, can only go to The Foreign Exchange.  The Foreign Exchange is made up of singer/songwriter Phonte and producer Nicolay.  The sheer number or artists/groups that they work with, is only surpassed by the quality of their productions.  Even though their second album “Leave It All Behind” (download sampler), was released in October of 2008, it set the tone for them in 2009.  Here are some of the projects that came out this year.

They also are working with Zo! (SunStorm arriving early 2010), Yahzarah (The Ballad of Miss Purple St James arriving spring 2010).

To add to the greatness, they were nominated for “Best Urban/Alternative Performance”, for their song “DayKeeper (featuring Muhsinah)” , from the album “Leave It All behind”.  All this from two artists on two different parts of the world, bringing real meaning to the word collaboration.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAT9ZsbIh30

The Foreign Exchange does EP tribute of Zo!

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Zo! Just Visiting Too

Website/Myspace

This is turning out to be a great day for free music. I should be shot for not having an Artist Spotlight on Foreign Exchange yet. Anyway, this great group has done covers of fellow label mate, Zo! His album “SunStorm” will be released soon. To pay tribute to that, FE has put together and EP with the likes of Yahzarah, Darien Brockington, Phonte and others. This is a free EP which serves double duty. It exposes you to the muisc of Zo! and the style of FE. You can download the album here or Soulified’s backup link. Enjoy.