So...Hows 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