Following his impressive Foreign Exchange project, for which he teamed up with Little Brother’s Phonte, Dutch producer dynamo Nicolay has joined forces with Houston’s Kay, spit-ready MC of local crew the Foundation, to produce Time:Line, an enjoyable LP guided by the emerging neo-soul backpacker sound mainstreamers are beginning to heed. Indicative of all Nicolay’s endeavors, Time:Line bursts with a seemingly impossible combination of organic and electronic beats. With tracks like “I’ve Seen Rivers” and “Tight Eyes,” he manages to produce a trendy take on early-’70s R&B without seeming too hokey, while Northsider Kay, who would have a hard time convincing anyone he’s not from somewhere along the Eastern seaboard, provides a seemingly effortless storytelling flow that rivals the likes of Lupe Fiasco or Chino XL. Highlights include “Blizzard,” a remember-when track that drips with soul and hearkens to Kay’s content-driven origins; “The Lights,” featuring a contagious hook and sample-sounding backbeats; and “Gunshot,” a radio-ready bounce beat that’s a little too serious (it’s about a child getting caught by a stray bullet) to get love from today’s ringtone-hungry population.
This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2008.