Track Listing

1. Intro
2. If It Wasn't For You
3. Are You Down With It
4. The World's Gone Mad
5. Dating Game
6. Breakdown
7. It's Like That
8. I've Been Thinkin'
9. Rock and Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Part 2
10. The Hours
11. Class System
12. First...and Then
13. A Day in the Life
14. Greatest Mistake
15. Outro

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72525 in Music
• Released on: 2004-11-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Album Description
White People, the 2nd album from Handsome Boy Modeling School, follows where "So...How's Your Girl?" left off. Bringing together all corners of the musical spectrum: hip-hop, rock, roots, alternative and even jazz, HBMS have put together a seamless cast of players that include: Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), RZA, Jack Johnson, Alex Kapronos (Franz Ferdinand), Mars Volta, Pharell and more.

Amazon.com
After a five-year hiatus, superstar producers Prince Paul (De La Soul) and Dan the Automator (Gorillaz) join forces again, assembling an even more eclectic and arguably more rewarding sequel to 1999's So… How's Your Girl? Most producer-based albums suffer from guest overload, and certainly Handsome Boy has a challenge in juggling over 25 different cameos, ranging from Del Tha Funkee Homosapien to Barrington Levy to Pharrell Williams to Cat Power to John Oates to… you get the idea. Yet they thrown down with such creative aplomb that you're just thankful to have a ticket for the ride. The vibe jumps from the soulful slide of "Breakdown" (feat. Jack Johnson) to the high-powered hip-hop of "If It Wasn't for You" (feat. De La Soul and Starchild Excalibur) to the indescribably dense "Rock and Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Part 2," which includes DJ Qbert, Lord Finesse, and Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda among other guests. There's so much to digest as Paul and Dan stock the album with a wide range of treats, and each listen reveals something new and delightful. --Oliver Wang

Customer Reviews

Apparently Not For Everybody
I'll admit that I have no idea what all the people who don't like this CD were thinking. I suppose that means that I'm not such a good person to review it. Oh well--here's my position, anyway.

I'm sick of hip hop, and I'd wager that if you're looking at this review, you're probably at least a little sick of it yourself as well. Everything sounds the same and there's little or no thematic differentiation in the mainstream. It's boring. This album is the antithesis of that, which is both good and bad. Let's handle them one at a time.

On the good side, this is really a terrific effort at blending musical formats without paying any particular attention to genre or style. There are hip hop type tracks and there are soul/alternative/rock/whatever tracks, but there aren't a whole lot that stick in the realm of a single genre. In that regard, this CD is much more liberated than its (excellent) predecessor in that it roams far more freely across the musical landscape. Lyrically, on the hip hop side it looks as though the record has taken a step back (is it just me or is Del bored with everything that he doesn't produce these days?), but it's still not bad by any means, and the other contributions on the record (notable tracks--Breakdown and Class System) more than make up for it.

Of course, this feature also doubles as the record's primary downside. If you only like hip hop, you won't like this record. Don't even try it. If you bought Lovage and didn't like it, then you need to be very careful here. This album is a lot of things, but one thing it is not is a pure, direct, singular expression of hip hop. It wanders far too far over the musical map to be confined to that single genre. That can make the record seem aimless if you're looking for a more focused or confined sound, and if that's the case, you probably won't enjoy this CD as much as I do.

The bottom line is this: if you want a hip hop record, you're better off with something else. If you just want a GOOD record, then go ahead and buy it. Whether you enjoy this album or not will depend almost entirely on how openminded you are about your musical experiences. Taken on their own, each track on this record (with the notable exception of The Hours, which I'm sure some people must like, but which does nothing but grate on my nerves--probably because I've grown to dislike most modern rock) stands well on its own and would be a welcome addition to any other album. Together, they make an interesting and engaging journey that I feel very comfortable in awarding a perfect five stars.

One piece of advice for the producers, though--skits are only funny the first couple of times through. After that they're just annoying. Either cut the bloody things out of the album or put them on their own tracks. If you want to do comedy, get a deal with a network. And it's not that the skits on here aren't funny--they should elicit a chuckle the first time. It's the thirtieth time when they just sort of blend into the background noise that they start to become more of a burden.

The best record of 2004
Everything about this is perfect..ok a few of the skits could go. The actual songs - those are perfect. From The opening sample of if it wasn't for you, the incredible mike patton song right after.. Amazing piano in class system. I can't get the mars volta song on here out of my head.. The best part is that when mars volta or ..linkin park is on a track..it sounds nothing like their own bands.. Prince paul and dan the automator are badass. I'm ranting.

an album that is worthy of listening to
I have not listened to the first album by HBMS (So...How's Your Girl?) so i have nothing to compare this to. The fact that "White People" features the RZA, Pharell, and The Mars Volta is enough of a reason to give this album a chance. Along with the skilled musicians there are some unworthy musicians featured in these recordings, but they did not make this album hard to listen to. They actually helped me gain a little more respect for them. All together this is a compilation of many different genres of music. They all fit together very well. I would reccomend this to anyone who is into pretty chill rock or jazz and who also respects good hip-hop and rap.