Given our (sometimes controversial) familiarity with Phonte Coleman and Nicolay Rook’s run over the past year as they supported their second LP as The Foreign Exchange, Leave It All Behind, we’re, of course, a tad disappointed that North Carolina’s newest R&B resource didn’t walk away with this year’s Grammy in the Urban/Alternative Performance category for the song ‘Daykeeper,” a joint effort with D.C. vocalist Muhsinah. Rather, neo-soul benefeciary India.Arie won the award for a song called ‘Pearls”a tougher-than-tofu number dedicated to caring about people and the rainbow and stuff, which doesn’t sound too different from the other 30 songs she’s made over the years about such ethical quandaries. Oh, well…
Sure, while the Grammy Award remains the highest mark of musical achievement in the land, listeners should at least take comfort in the fact that you can’t put much stock in a process that can nominate a sketch from Saturday Night Live (‘I’m on a Boat”) as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. So, what have we learned from tonight’s events other than the fact that Quentin Tarantino snorts 5 Hour Energy Drinks? Even if FE didn’t walk away with the award, they did walk away with some awesome memories and photos with some of their musical heroesQuincy Jones, Charlie Wilson, Ludacris, Roberta Flack and, of course, Bishop Don Magic Juan. With a third Foreign Exchange album coming out later this year, the FE ‘Grammy Family” pledges that they’ll be returning to the Staples Center for another go. Sounds like a plan.
