Thesis: Synth driven 80s pop music written, in general, for and by the white middle-class (and some gay people).

Antithesis: Rap music. A form founded, performed and perfected by lower class members of Black communities in the United States.

Synthesis: Kirb and Chris's "Niggaz and White Girlz". A record that places the backpack rap aesthetic--'conscious' (ugh), clever, broke, perceptive--alongside some classic 80s songs, managing to retain each influence's respective aesthetic. Backpack rappers of all countries, unite! You have a world of white girls to win.

In a broad sense, the best thing about 'NAWGz' is that Kirby Dominant and Chris Sinister have turned hipster irony on its ear: they've got an infatuation with white hipster girls, so they recorded an album that is more or less about, well...fucking white hipster girls. And if that's not enough, the record is underscored by beats constructed entirely out of samples from 80s songs that were good to begin with. There are 3 Gary Numan songs ('Cars', 'Change Your Mind', 'Down in the Park'); over Madonna's 'Live to Tell', Murs phones in a tale about how finally buckled and nailed some redhead in Minneapolis; Prince, The Smiths, Simple Minds, The Cure and even U2 are also in there, which, incidentally, makes me wonder whether the samples on this album cleared.

Legal speculation aside, this album is essentially the aural equivalent going to a Promise Ring show in an XXL Mitchell&Ness and giving some broad a copy of 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower', but then she opens it and there's a used condom inside. Harsh, but it's supposed to be ironic, which makes it okay.

'Niggaz and White Girlz' is definitely a gimmicky album, but it doesn't rest entirely on schtick. Lyrically, 'NAWGz' doesn't get bogged down in its concept. On the breakup cut, "Doorstep, Girl", Kirb's verse opens with "Rainy days melancholy clouds fill the sky / soaking wet as a walk thinking of the times..." and slides on over a suitably airy Smiths sample and the whole song sort of reminds me of Blackalicious' "Feel That Way". On "Down in the Park", (though I like Restiform Bodies' use of the sample on "3rd Reel Judy Garland" better) both Chris and Kirby rock intensely bleak verses, but Kirb totally kills it coming out of the chorus: "Meet your newest enemy nigga / I'm the bully takin' lunches puttin' hands on the skrilla / I'm the moolie smokin' marijuana and drinkin' liquor / Grippin' white girls booties cuz they gettin' thicker". I'd say that's pretty hard rap for a half-hipster.

Surprisingly Kirb and Chris do a good job of balancing the tongue-in-cheek white girl jokes with fairly charismatic rhymes and material decent enough to keep them from losing all credibility. When it gets too serious they bust in singing re-tooled hooks of U2's "With or Without You", The Cure's "Closer", and Gary Numan's "Cars" (which, by the way, totally bangs). The recurring "Niggas and Whi-ite Girlz" taunt (think "I got your no-ose") also helps to lighten the mood. And when it gets too goofy Kirby and Chris are able ground themselves with sober stories and feel good hooks in classic backpack form, which by definition walks a thin line between bearable and brutal. Girls are seriously going to like this one. It is, after all, a tribute.

In all, Kirby Dominant and Chris Sinister held out for 8.5 of a possible 10 episodes of Degrassi Junior High before realizing that the girls they went home with actually just wanted to watch TV.