Handsome Boy Modeling School - 'White People' (Atlantic) Released 08/11/04

Way back in the mists of time, ‘Prince’ Paul Huston and his progenies De La Soul unleashed a plague upon hip-hop that it still suffers from to this day. I am referring, of course, to the skit, those terminally unfunny seemed-like-a-good-idea-whilst-stoned-in-the-studio-at-2am comedy tracks which still comprise a good proportion of hip-hop albums to this day. Yet Paul, and his current collaborator Dan ‘The Automator’ Nakamura, have still seen fit to plug the gaps in their latest Handsome Boy Modeling School project with various poorly planned and lazily executed comic moments. However, annoying skits are only one factor which threatens to derail this album. Like a less po-faced version of U.N.K.L.E.’s 'Psyence Fiction', 'White People' is by no means a disaster, but it’s equally distant from triumph.

It all starts brilliantly, with a purpose and playfulness to match Handsome Boy’s eclectic debut. De La rear their heads for a bouncy slice of old-school hip-hop on the opener, then Mike Patton reminds us that he was doing nu-metal while Fred Durst was in short-trousers (yeah, alright, that was a poor choice of cliché). The third proper track is the most unlikely collaboration, but actually one of the most successful. A laidback rap from long-time Prince Paul associate Del is complemented by reggae legend Barrington Levy’s soaring vocal, before it breaks down for a chorus from Alex Kapranos. That it all works perfectly could be seen as testament to the genius of Huston and Nakamura. But elsewhere they get it so wrong, that you begin to wonder how much chance plays a part in the more successful moments.

Chief amongst the disappointments are a poor showing from Cage and El-P on 'The Hours' and a ropey hip-hop appropriation of Vivaldi’s "Four Seasons" which seriously underuses the talent on offer. Elsewhere, the record drifts towards MOR pop culminating in the unsurprisingly bleak John Oates/Jamie Cullum number which brings the album to a stuttering close (or would do if it weren’t for a further six minutes of skits). It’s a shame because a great track from The Mars Volta, with the RZA delivering a staccato rap over Omar Rodriguez’s unexpectedly funky guitar, and a sexy duet between Pharrell Williams and Julee Cruise, are drowned in the album’s lacklustre second-half.