''White Trash Beautiful'' is the fourth solo studio album by American recording artist

Everlast Erik Francis Schrody (born August 18, 1969), known by his stage name Everlast, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter, who was the frontman for hip hop group House of Pain. He was also part of the hip hop supergroup La Coka N ...

. It was released internationally on May 25, 2004 and a day later in the United States via

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

. It has sold about 124,000 copies in the U.S. The record peaked at number 12 on German music charts, at number 21 on the Swiss music charts, at number 32 on

Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Tuesdays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as ...

, at number 56 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, and at number 124 on French music charts. The lead single of the album, "White Trash Beautiful", was dropped in March 2004 and also has been charted, but only in three major European charts: number 42 in Switzerland, number 59 in Germany, and number 64 in Austria. The official music video features American actor

Aaron Paul Aaron Paul (born Aaron Paul Sturtevant; August 27, 1979) is an American actor best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013), for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television ...

Music and lyrics

''White Trash Beautiful'' primarily mixes hip-hop tropes with arrangements built on

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

y strumming. Musically, Everlast and producer Dante Ross marry his gruff delivery with spare

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

layered in subdued hip-hop rhythms. The album features hip-hop references, including lyrical quotes, turntable scratches and explicit lines and bravado. The album mainly blends

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

and

into lyrical narratives of loneliness. Everlast uses a haggard voice for singing grim songs. He occasionally engages in rap clichés, with verses expressing street bravado and cynicism in addition to relationship issues and heartbreak.

Track listing

Personnel

Vocalists * Erik Francis Schrody - vocals *Jeni Fujita - backing vocals (tracks: 4-5, 9, 11) *Carlos Rigas - backing vocals (tracks: 3, 6, 10) *Sheree Brown - backing vocals (track 1) * Derek Murphy - backing vocals (track 5) * Louis Freese - backing vocals (track 14) Instrumentalists *Justin Premino - bass (tracks: 4-5, 9, 13, 15) *Dorian Heartsong - bass (tracks: 1-2, 6, 10) *Chris Thomas - bass (tracks: 3, 7, 11) *Tobias Ralph - drums (tracks: 4, 9) *Johnathan Moouer - drums (tracks: 6, 13) *Joshua Lopez - guitar (tracks: 3, 7) *Rob Hill - guitar (track 6) *John Vercessi - keyboards (tracks: 4-5, 9, 11, 13, 15) * Keefus Ciancia - keyboards (tracks: 1, 3, 14) *Zac Rae - keyboards (tracks: 1-3, 6-7) * Dante Ross - keyboards (track 12) *Al Pahanish - percussion (track: 6, 10) *Miles Tackett - cello (track 2) *Angelo Moore - theremin (track 2) *Alma Cielo - violin (track 10) Technicals *Erik Francis Schrody - producer (tracks: 1-3, 6-7, 10, 14), co-producer (tracks: 4-5, 9, 11, 13, 15), executive producer *Dante Ross - producer (tracks: 3-5, 9, 11-13, 15), co-producer (tracks: 1-2, 6-7, 10, 14), executive producer, recording (tracks: 4-5, 9, 11-13, 15) *Rob Hill - producer (tracks: 3, 6), co-producer (tracks: 1-2, 7, 10, 14), recording (tracks: 1-3, 6-7, 14) * Emile Haynie - producer (track 8) * John Gamble - recording (tracks: 4-5, 9, 11-13, 15) *

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance- ...

- mastering *Robert Power - mixing *Ari Raskin - assistant engineer * David Campbell - string arrangement (tracks: 7, 15)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Albums produced by Dante Ross Albums produced by Emile Haynie Blues albums by American artists Island Records albums Everlast (musician) albums