Nick Cannon – "White People Party Music" Review: The April Fools' Album That Wasn't Joking
- Jay Jewels
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Quick Verdict
White People Party Music is one of the worst-named and worst-executed rap albums in recent memory. Released on April 1, 2014 — appropriately, April Fools' Day — Nick Cannon's second studio album is an 80-minute comedy-rap-EDM disaster that fails on every level it attempts to operate on. It is neither funny enough to be a comedy album nor good enough to be a rap album, occupying a middle ground best described by one Album of the Year reviewer as an album containing all disgustingly cringe-worthy hip-hop songs that make even Flo Rida and LMFAO seem like Nas and Biggie. There is no Metacritic score available, which is itself a statement. The album sold so few copies that its commercial performance was barely tracked. Rate Your Music reviewers called it a collection of misbegotten tracks that muddle through without quality or successful satire. The only thing White People Party Music accomplishes is confirming that America's Got Talent was the right career choice for Nick Cannon. Rating: 1/10.
At a Glance
Album Details
Context: Eleven Years Between Albums
Nick Cannon's first album, the self-titled Nick Cannon, was released in 2003 and earned a collective shrug from critics while scoring one minor hit in Gigolo. It took eleven years for the follow-up to arrive. In those eleven years, Cannon had become the host of America's Got Talent, married and separated from Mariah Carey, became a television personality, stand-up comedian, DJ, and the man most widely known as Mr. Mariah Carey. The question of why he returned to rap after an eleven-year absence, and why he returned with an album titled White People Party Music, is one that the album itself never satisfactorily answers. Nick Cannon told Rolling Stone that the album was meant to blend his comedic talents with genuine music in the tradition of Meatloaf, Biz Markie, and the Monkees. The result is neither funny enough to function as comedy nor musically substantial enough to function as rap.
The Title and the Concept: What Was He Trying to Do?
White People Party Music is presented as a satire — a comedic commentary on EDM culture, mainstream rap's relationship with white audiences, and the kind of brainless club music that fills venues at 1am. The problem is that parody only works when the execution is sharper than the target. White People Party Music is duller, flatter, and less musically interesting than the genre it is supposedly mocking. Rate Your Music's most precise review called it not a good track — not the high point of the album that was supposed to capture the concept of satire, but instead a track that merely gets a few fingers onto the concept without grasping it. That describes the entire album: 17 tracks that reach for irony and land on sincerity, reach for satire and land on earnestness, and reach for fun and land on embarrassing.
Production and Sonic Landscape
The album features Afrojack, Pitbull, Future, Migos, Kehlani, and Polow da Don — a guest list assembled specifically to provide the kind of mainstream EDM-pop credibility Cannon was chasing. The production is technically accomplished in the sense that it sounds like the kind of music it is trying to be: 2014 house-pop, EDM drops, trap-influenced club tracks. The issue is that it all sounds like wallpaper. Album of the Year called it a disgrace to the genre that sees Cannon singing like One Direction over House Pop beats. Rate Your Music identified the core problem: whether Cannon is trying to make the satire land or trying to make genuine club music, the production budget was significantly higher than the creative vision that directed it.
The Album's Lowest Moments
Pete's Rap is described by Rate Your Music as the true low point on the album — a track that tries to riff on substanceless rappers without realising that less can be more, and that the irony might land better with actual wit behind it. F Nick Cannon — a track built around a sound bite of someone literally saying the album title's invitation in uncensored form — attempts to weaponise negative commentary as a bragging point and fails completely. Dance Floor features a heavy sample of R. Kelly's Feelin' on Yo Booty — a choice that, combined with everything else on the album, suggests nobody involved had significant reservations about any creative decision made during the recording process.
Final Verdict and Rating
White People Party Music earns a 1/10 because Me Sexy at least reaches for its concept with some conviction, and Pajama Pants featuring Future and Migos exists. Everything else is a tonal disaster — an album that cannot decide whether it is a parody, a genuine club record, or a comedic statement, and therefore succeeds at none of those things. The fact that it was released on April 1st is either the most self-aware thing Nick Cannon has ever done or proof that the release team had a sense of humour about what they were delivering. Album of the Year's verdict remains the most accurate: this disgrace to the genre makes even Flo Rida and LMFAO seem like Nas and Biggie by comparison. Final Rating: 1/10.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is White People Party Music meant to be a joke?
Nick Cannon told Rolling Stone it was a comedic statement about club culture in the tradition of Biz Markie and Meatloaf. The problem is that the execution is so indistinguishable from genuine bad EDM-rap that even the people listening cannot tell whether it is supposed to be funny. Satire requires the execution to be sharper than the target. This album is not.
What is the rating for White People Party Music?
Our rating is 1/10. One point for Me Sexy which at least reaches in the right direction, and the existence of a Future and Migos feature. Nothing else on this album earns a point.
References and Further Listening
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