Handsome Boy Modeling School – White People

Racial Profiling

Prince Paul and Dan the Automator return as Chest Rockwell and Nathaniel Merriweather for another semester of Handsome Boy Modeling School. Also, returning from the cast of the original HBMS are hip-hop veterans De La Soul and Del the Funky Homosapien. De La Soul continues their streak of successful collaborations with Prince Paul on “”If It Wasn’t For You””. However, “”The World’s Gone Mad”” featuring Del the Funky Homosapien sounds like something that was cut from the Gorillaz album. Del’s low tamboured voice and steady monotone delivery coupled with a generic reggae melody is best reserved for bedtime lullabys.Other portions of the album feature Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Mike Patton of Faith No More and John Oates of the legendary Hall and Oates. Unfortunately these tracks fail to exceed any expectations one might have for such a diversely talented group of musicians.

ame Prince Paul returns to his days as a Gravedigga to resurrect The Rza who is teamed up with AG on “”A Day in the Life””. Driven by a blues oriented baseline and broken up with a soulful hook, Rza and AG bless the tracks two spectacular offbeat deliveries. This song alone is enough to justify purchasing this album.

ame Once again HBMS transcends the average hip-hop mixtape/collaboration album blending rock, rap, and r&b with a continuous comedic theme. Other notable appearances by Jack Johnson, Pherrell Williams, and Casual add some stability to the Handsome Boy roster. While some tracks drag along with little substance and others try too hard to merge genres, the brilliant production and exceptional pacing makes up for White People’s shortcomings.