Performer Notes
- Handsome Boy Modeling School: Prince Paul, The Automator.
- Additional personnel includes: Sean Lennon, DJ Shadow, Trugoy, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Moloko, Alec Empire, Kid Koala, Father Guido Sarducci, Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto), Mike D., Josh Haden, Money Mark, Grand Puba, Sadat X.
- Personnel: Money Mark (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Dan the Automator (vocals, violin, keyboards); Josh Hayden, Del the Funky Homosapien, Father Guido Sarducci, Grand Puba, J-Live, Miho Hatori , Mike D , Paula Frazer, R?is?n Murphy , Sadat X, Sean Lennon (vocals); Brandon Arnovick (guitar); Gordon Shumway (koto); Chest Rockwell (horns, turntables); Paul Huston (keyboards, background vocals); DJ Shadow (programming); Nathaniel Merriweather, Kid Koala (turntables).
- Audio Mixers: Dan the Automator; Prince Paul.
- Handsome Boy Modeling School is the tag for the unearthly union of producer Prince Paul and beatmaster Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, the forces behind two of the most universally acclaimed hip-hop records. While each man has recorded worthy solo records, each is better known for his individual connections to the clasics 3 FEET HIGH & RISING, by De La Soul and OCTAGONYCOLOGIST, by Dr. Octagon.
- When one ponders the referential nature of those albums and the fact that this project takes its name from an obscure episode of the early-'90s Chris Elliott TV vehicle "Get a Life," one might expect similar goofiness. Other than samples of that show, a phone conversation with the unbeatable Biz Markie, and a hilarious monologue from Don Novello's eternal alter-ego Father Guido Sarducci, SO...HOW'S YOUR GIRL is a hyper-serious collection of genre-bending and enrapturing tracks. It's an all-star affair as everyone from Mike D to Alec Empire to Sean Lennon to members of De La and the Nubians show up, but hands down the best mix comes from DJs Shadow and Quest, who offer up "Holy Calamity." Expectations on this album were through the roof, but SO...HOW'S YOUR GIRL reaches that level and goes beyond.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (11/11/99, pp.132-3) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...turns the multiple-persona craze on its head....boasting lush tracks full of esoteric samples, intricate flourishes and merciless funk....HOW"S YOUR GIRL? has a hot style all its own."
Spin (11/99, pp.193-4) - 9 out of 10 - "...The all-star exhibition of SO...HOWS YOUR GIRL? bolsters [Prince Paul and Dan 'The Automator' Nakamura's] current standing...as hip-hop's most innovative producers....More Fab than Fabio, more superb than this year's supermodel...sounds like a million bucks."
Entertainment Weekly (10/29/99, p.114) - "...a hip-hopera thatgoofs on rap vanity while reasserting hip-hop's mongrel soul....the minor stars shine brightest..." - Rating: A-
Q (1/00, p.113) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...funky, tough, cutting-edge, but light on its feet....this is pure hip hop-based sampledelica and anything but po-faced....Most Handsome."
Alternative Press (11/99, p.103) - 5 out of 5 - "...[a] jubilant highbrow-meets-lowbrow vibe pervades....It will take fans years to really grasp this album, yet it also works on the gut level. There's nothing middling about it."
Muzik (11/99, p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...It makes the usual 'all star' project look threadbare...is it any good? Yes, from laid back funky to snot-punky, the fellas do it lovely..."
CMJ (1/10/00, p.4) - Ranked #11 in CMJ's "Top 30 Editorial Picks [for 1999] - "...When Prince Paul and The Automator are making the moves behind the wizard's curtain, anything is possible."
Vibe (11/99, p.199) - "...Handsome Boy's motto seems to be 'Express the gorgeous inner you - through music'....The results? Gorgeous....There's only one way to describe the songs of the HBMS: futuristic R&B for hip hop fiending robots. Get with it..."
Urban Latino (11/99, p.83) - 4 out of 4 - "...knock Hip Hop on its overweight, money-grubbing ass....one of the best Hip Hop CDs of the year..."
