The internet age has brought people from all over the world together. Perfect examples of this are rapper/singer/comedian Phonte of the Durham, North Carolina-based hip-hop group Little Brother, and Nicolay, a Dutch-born producer. After posting several beats on the music-oriented Okayplayer site, Nicolay found himself getting a message from Phonte, who’d turned heads on his group’s debut album, The Listening, praising his skills. Shortly thereafter, the two were exchanging vocal and music tracks electronically, a practice they continued for roughly a year and a half. The end products were the formation of The Foreign Exchange and the well-received album, Connected, in 2004.

Since then, both have put out several projects and, in 2006, Nicolay left the Netherlands to settle in Wilmington, North Carolina. Now, with only about 150 miles between them as opposed to a few thousand, the duo has dropped what’s being widely heralded as one of the best albums of the year, Leave It All Behind. At points dark and moody but overall uplifting, the release serves as a challenge to hip-hop heads whose narrow construction of the genre or the possibilities within it ultimately limit their ability to enjoy out right quality. Not to mention, it features three D.C. artists, including Three Stars alumni Muhsinah and Zo!, as well as YahZarah.

DCist caught up with the men behind the music as they prepared for their appearance at the Black Cat on Sunday.

Nicolay, hip-hop fans tend to know about Phonte and what he’s done with Little Brother, but less is known about how you got started. What were you doing prior to the first Foreign Exchange album, Connected?

Nicolay: Working a day job mainly. I’ve always been a musician playing in bands but there was a moment when I didn’t see it going anywhere so I focused on paying my rent. I started doing music at night by just making beats. That’s what I was doing when I posting beats on Okayplayer in 2001. Phonte heard some of the first ones and was really feeling them. I was honored. A couple weeks after that, I received the first (vocal) tracks and we’ve pretty much been recording ever since.

Phonte: I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t a millionaire yet. He should’ve been doing tracks for Janet Jackson. I knew I had to work with him.

Phonte, were you trying to do something different post-The Listening?

Phonte: I don’t think it was me wanting to do something different. I was just trying to deal with whoever was making good music. When I heard his stuff, it just felt natural.