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Editor’s note: Acknowledgement’s are due to VillageSlum.com who has shot the fux off for the 2009 CMJ festival. Salute this man when you see him in the streets.

I’ll be excited for the month of November so that I can start to get myself some rest again. The CMJ festival and simply my life in general is grinding me down. There is so much important shit in my world that requires my focus. My job. My bills. My website. My love. I forget sometimes to make time for my love. She waits patiently for my phone calls that don’t always get placed. I feel bad for Chocolate Snowflake sometimes because she is married to someone who is chasing a dream. There isn’t anything noble or righteous about that either. It is selfish and inconsiderate. Behind her smile is her tears. Thank God for the rains because it can hide the tears.

The rains slowed down the city just a little bit last night. Enough for C.S. and I to find a moment together to sit down in a restaurant for dinner. Another moment was spent in a theatre watching a movie. Following the film we walked across the street to B.B. Kings blues club to partake of some of the CMJ festivities. The earlier show was with the incomparable Bobby Brown. The late show was the Foreign Exchange featuring the masterful Phonte of Lil’ Brother acclaim.

The Foreign Exchange is a project Phonte launched alongside producer Nicolay. The group is proof positive of the power of the internets. Phonte and Nicolay met on the forums at OKayPlayer, just like Rafi and I met in the comments section of ByronCrawford. Phonte and Nicolay are super-talented musically. Raf and I have that level of talent for retardation and fast food consumption. The internets is simply a conduit for talented retards to find each other. The Foreign Exchange has been gaining critical support since their debut album back in 2004.

The show at B.B. Kings was much like the Foreign Exchange movement. It was greatly delayed, but all was forgiven when the band entered the stage. This was the first time I had seen Phonte perform live. He is truly an emcee. His discourse with the audience is light and confident. He even did a brief tribute to the man who had just previously graced the stage. Phonte was dressed sharper than the brothers hawking beanpies on the highway. He wasn’t just preaching to the choir, he was a preacher who brought his own choir with him. The sermon for this evening was to make time for love. Damn, how is it that God is always on time?

Foreign Exchange is what soul music has been missing in my opinion. The group had fits and starts as members come and go within the group. Phonte and Nicolay have remained creative between the stretches of Foreign Exchange album releases. My favorite Phonte project is the EP album ‘Zo and Tigallo Love The 80s’. There’s a nice sense of humor in his nostalgia. Phonte takes his shit seriously though. Don’t let the smooth taste fool you. The Foreign Exchange also features Zo as well as songbird YahZaRah. They are becoming a veritable all-star team on the level of a Roots collective. Since these artists are all inspired by the Roots it only makes sense.

I hear so many great inspirations in the Foreign Exchange’s sounscape. Dilla, Madlib and D’Angelo jump out at me first. I’m officially wearing a late pass for not fuxing with the Foreign Exchange way back when El Gringo Colombiano was pushing them to me hardbody. Better late than never is what the old Earth told me. So I am getting in line now and giving myself some time to enjoy the good music of Foreign Exchange. I’m also making the time to give some love back to the person that loves me the most.

Come Around

Daykeeper

All That You Are