This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Handsome Boy Modeling School’s 1999 debut So … How’s Your Girl? was a perfectly poised balance of high concept, hijinks and hip-hop. Now, Chest Rockwell and Nathaniel Merriweather — aka producers Dan the Automator and Prince Paul — are back for a second semester with White People.
But sadly, their inconsistent new curriculum isn’t quite in the same class. Generic grooves and tossed-off tracks have usurped the intelligently crafted set pieces. Tim Meadows’ lithping Ladies’ Man has replaced the Chris Elliott samples. And Dan and Paul don’t seem to be directing traffic here so much as taking their hands off the wheel and hoping the vehicle drives itself.
To their credit, now and then it does — usually when the duo meet the white folks of the title. Indie singer-songwriter Cat Power turns torchy crooner on the gorgeous trip-hopper I’ve Been Thinking. Mars Volta kick it on the Superfly tip with RZA on A Day In The Life (no, not that one). And John Oates (yes, that one) double-dates with Jamie Cullum on the soulful Greatest Mistake.
When you add up the marks, White People gets a conditional pass — but the Handsome Boys need to buckle down if they don’t want to be left behind.
