Hip To Be Square

Best known for his work with Little Brother vocalist, Phonte, on the album The Foreign Exchange, Nicolay is an astounding producer that is, if not already, going to get serious praise from the likes of underground hip-hop fans and indy freaks alike.

Nicolay dwells in the Netherlands. His beats are straight up hip-hop and his melodies are rooted in soul, R&B and jazz. What I just described isn't unique. In fact the description above sums up about 80% of the euro dj population if not the whole dj universe. But it's not the ingredients of the music that makes this producer unique. We'll leave that category to Diplo and MIA. What makes his grooves stand out is the attention to detail in each little sound within the production. Every beat, melody, tempo change and vocal sample has a purpose and they make sense.

This album is called "City Lights". If you live in a city and you walk to work, to the gym, to go out or to just walk, this album is for you. Put it on, listen and walk down the sidewalk. You'll find more joy in walking in your city then you thought imaginable.

I'm going to shut up now and provide you with some tracks to ponder:

(To download songs, click on the link and you will be sent to iHud. On this page, scroll down to the bottom and you will find a link to download the song.)
City Sounds
Inidan Summer
There's No Guaranty

Buy the "City Lights Volume 1.5" from Amazon here.

Visit www.nicolaymusic.com for more music produced by Nicolay and if you want to pick up the critically acclaimed, Foreign Exchange album, go here.