So... How's Your Girl?

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..."

The concept behind Handsome Boy Modeling School -- if you separate it from its origins in a Chris Elliott sitcom -- can be taken as a subtle parody of hip-hop's player affectations: two geeky producers masquerading as jet-set male models. Given that framework, and the fact that those two producers are eccentric geniuses Prince Paul and Dan the Automator, you might expect So...How's Your Girl? to be a goof from top to bottom. And that isn't the case. The album ends up as more of a showcase for their eclecticism, tailoring productions to their collaborators and creating a colorful universe where classicist rap, turntablism, trip-hop, and electronica all get along comfortably. Parts of the album are surprisingly atmospheric, and rely more on the texture of the sound than the star power of the guest -- which makes sense for a producer's album. The finished product does lack some of the sheer craziness one might have anticipated, but the meatiness of the best music also keeps the Elliott-centered comedic interludes from turning the project into a mere novelty. The DJ cuts -- the duo's own "Rock n' Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This)" and the DJ Shadow/DJ Quest team-up "Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II)" -- are some of the most exciting tracks on the album, and of the rappers, Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Brand Nubian's Grand Puba and Sadat X turn in the most memorable performances. The electronic collaborations range the farthest afield, and provide some of the most intriguing highlights -- especially the bluesy trip-hop of "The Truth," featuring Moloko crooner Roisin Murphy. Meanwhile, Alec Empire and El-P -- each arguably the most abrasive experimentalist in his field -- live up to their billing on the massively distorted "Megaton B-Boy 2000." It's true that a few of the quirkier experiments never quite get off the ground, but by and large, So...How's Your Girl? is packed with imaginative, intriguing music. ~ Steve Huey