Netherlands-bred, North
Carolina transplant Nicolay is steadily approaching
the top of his potential. One of hip-hop’s next great beat makers, he’s evolved
bounds since getting drafted by Little Brother’s Phonte to produce his Foreign
Exchange venture, and even further since dropping his own mediocre mixtape, The Dutch Masters, and his follow-up
solo outing, Here. In Kay, Nicolay
has found a relatively unknown Houston MC who’s not only as linguistically
competent as Phonte, but who shares Little Brother’s burden of showing
subterranean rap fans that not all hip-hop from below the Mason-Dixon is cough
syrup-inspired balderdash. On twelve
tracks, Kay jets past formal introductions and gets intimate. The grandiose horn-inflated
“What we live” pedals through his rap experience, while more playful cuts such
as “Through the wind” flash his romantic side. It’s a team effort; only two
synchronized souls could concoct a song like “Gunshot,” a guitar and drum stew
so celestially dynamic that it takes several listens to realize that it’s as
lyrically significant as it is sonically astounding. Critics are sure to note
that Kay has some vocal resemblance to Kayne West and/or Lupe Fiasco, but he’s
actually much more humble and endearing than either of the aforementioned
gimmick rappers. The other difference, of course, is that thanks to Nicolay,
Kay’s bangers weren’t jacked from familiar pop classics.