Recent Articles

Recent Articles By Dan Leroy

National Features

  • Phoenix New Times
    Canine Crusaders

    That drug-sniffing dog up ahead? He may not be your best friend.

    By Ray Stern
  • Broward-Palm Beach New Times
    The Muscle Men

    Thanks to a string of Florida "anti-aging clinics," baseball's steroid scandal isn't limited to superstars.

    By Michael J. Mooney
  • Miami New Times
    Picked On

    Farm workers earn nada in America's green-bean capital.

    By Janine Zeitlin
  • Village Voice
    "Why I'm No Longer a Brain-Dead Liberal"

    An election-season essay from one of America's greatest playwrights.

    By David Mamet

Handsome Boy Modeling School released its lone album in 1999, and since then high-concept hip-hop albums with a sense of humor have become common enough that it's easy to forget the role Chest Rockwell and Nathaniel Merriwether played in developing this subgenre. The faux-stylish studs (a.k.a. super-producers Prince Paul and Dan "the Automator" Nakamura) emptied their imaginations and Rolodexes on So...How's Your Girl?, creating an alternate musical universe with room for everyone from Mike D to Father Guido Sarducci.

Yet while the follow-up, White People, is even more diverse -- RZA, meet the Mars Volta; Pharrell, this is Julee Cruise -- it sounds more coherent, dominated by a slow, subtle shuffle and several tracks (including the Jack Johnson vehicle "Breakdown" and "Greatest Mistake," an R&B duet between John Oates and jazz whiz kid Jamie Cullum) that are songs first, production showcases second. It's also no comedy record; aside from the skits by Father Guido and ex-SNL-er Tim Meadows, a wistful feeling runs through White People, beginning with the bleak, reggaefied single "The World's Gone Mad." Thanks to the tons of clients served by its proprietors and the simple passage of time, this school's beats and punch lines are no longer cutting-edge -- but its well-tailored hip-hop is always in style.

About Us | Work for Riverfront Times | Esubscribe | Free St. Louis Classifieds | National Advertising | Privacy Policy
Problem With the Site? | RSS | Site Map
©2008 Village Voice Media All rights reserved.

Riverfront Times Insiders

  • Local food, music and news blasts
  • Free Stuff

buy, sell, trade (3,712)
musician (453)
rentals (4,379)
jobs (2,347)
adult entertainment (1,104)
NOW CLICK THIS