Handsome Boy Modeling School - So...How's Your Girl?

As if A Prince Among Thieves wasn't conceptual enough, Prince Paul has now joined forces with Dan the Automator to create Handsome Boy Modeling School, an outlet through which the duo (and a dozen or so of their closest big-name friends) can mix and mingle with rap, turntablism, trip-hop, and--of course--tongue-in-cheek humor. And while this idea may sound original, its name came straight from an episode of Chris Elliott's short-lived sitcom Get a Life. Elliott--the goofball writer and cameo guest for David Letterman--springs up a few times on the disc in the form of a few vocal samples, but mostly this show is centered around the guests: Encore provides the disc's best rap on "Waterworld," Grand Puba and Sadat X (from Brand Nubian) perform "Once Again" on top of a sample of Three Dog Night's "Old Fashioned Love Song," and DJ Shadow does his usual magic with the 1200s on "Holy Calamity." Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto), Mike D., Sean Lennon, Alec Empire, and even Father Guido Sarducci are also along for the crowded ride. Does this runway of cameos ever sound thematically cohesive? Hell, no. With this many friends helping out, do we really need to hear Prince Paul on the phone with Biz Markie ("Calling the Biz")? Of course not. But this name-dropping vanity fair is nothing if not ambitious, and chances are there's something here that you'll dig. --Jason Verlinde Amazon.com

Great album but...

I originally bought this album about 4 years ago. It's awesome, great and amazing in every way... however it got beat up from continuous play. I just bought the digital download and didn't realize that EVERY single track is the same as the original save one. For whatever reason they slip in some horrible remix of one of my favorite songs on the album. I am pissed. March 3, 2008

Great Theme for an Album

This CD has grown on me alot. Track 4 is hilarious yet at the same time has a real good beat to it. Real kick back beats and goes well with any type of Hiphop/Rap collection. Both these guys are well known for their talent, when it comes to producing. Pick it up only if your a true head. June 29, 2007

You won't regret for long...

Before I came to Handsome Boy Modeling School, I was handsome but without refinements, you know. Knowing which fork is for the salad at dinner, how to select a wine and knowing a napkin goes on one's lap instead of the logical tuck under chin are all points of greater emotional security for me now. I possess the confidence to actually show up for a date when I said I would be there. You too, will feel the liberation of knowing the secrets of Chest and Nathaniel. Don't hesitate, please. Even there, I said, "please" when before I would have just said, "do it bitch!"

Prince Paul and Dan the Automator created the better mouse trap with this particular concept that also entails "White People" and "Lovage." The hip-hopera works well in the framing of this fictitious modeling school. The cast is nothing less than incredible both in content of who they are and in the performances served up. This transcends categorization of strictly hip-hop. It should appeal to a very wide range of musical interests while not betraying it's theme. There is also a duality of self-deprecation for hip-hop and a celebration of hip-hop existing here. This is very much the sensation I feel with "Three Feet High and Rising" and "DeLaSoul is Dead." All artistic outlets should keep it in perspective and not take themselves too seriously. Otherwise you end up like Bobby Brown, Flav, or Dennis Miller.

I don't consider myself a fan of hip-hop, mainly because I am uninitiated. I listen to clawhammer banjo and am a self-professed collector of klezmer music. Nonetheless, I find the Dan Nakamura and Prince Paul collaborations brilliant! Plenty of big kick bass for everyone, so don't panic!

You'll love the Tim Meadows, Don Novell (Father Guido Sarducci), Chris and Bob Elliot, et al. Do what you can to insure you have the Handsome Boy Modeling School iterations in your collection. And screw those people who don't "get it."

Peace. September 16, 2006

Portishead meets Hip-hop

Everything Dan The Automator has worked on is well worth putting into your iPOD or CD Player... over and over again. "So...How's Your Girl?" is a more serious attempt at producing a classic blues variety of hip-hop which is at a tangent to the gasta' hip-hop that has become mainstream. This is the other side of hip-hop that now seems to be the future of where hip-hop is moving and is certainly eons more musical, where ganga' is more interested in producing harder, faster more complex raps (not to say that Dan The Automator & co don't do that, they do, and very well) these sounds and literally just that... sounds, and they sound great. So once you have finally gone through the mainstream stuff you will probably venture down the avenues of MF Doom, Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif and most certainly you will want to start a Dan the Authomator collection. Deltron 3030 will get you into this rapper. Even if you don't like the blues, Dan the Automator just makes it sound so good here on "So...How's Your Girl". Get it. May 7, 2006

Holy Calamity!

This energetic album is a pleasure to listen to. Packed full of beats and a completely unafraid attitude. The album could be a bit more consistent, as it's hard (at times) to swallow the plethora of guest MCs that appear on each of the tracks... making the album feel more like a mix tape than a finished vision. Additionally, the interludes are funny but often I wanted them to end so I could hear more music.

However, some albums are worth getting for one track. This is one of them. Once you hear "The Truth" you won't be able to put this album away. March 27, 2006

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