Thursday, October 28, 2004

33 and a 1/3

Posted by Hello Here is the first music review from the "thunda' from down unda."

Handsome Boy Modelling School
Dan the Automator and Prince Paul

Released 1999

Murder 1 Rating

Hip hop lost its way in the early 1990’s. If you weren’t gangsta, playa or hustla you weren’t shit nigga. By the end of the 1990’s any serious hip hop listener who didn’t pack heat was well and truly ready for something new. Call me playa-hater but when Dan the Automator and Prince Paul teamed up in 1999 to release Handsome Boy Modelling School the breath of air (without da chronic) had well and truly arrived.

Standing on the shoulders of crews like Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul these two producers teamed up with some of the best rappers and performers they could find and created one of the best, yet most underrated hip hop CD’s of the last 10 years. The beats are laid back, its no coincidence that the sleeve artwork features the producers smoking cigars and drinking martini’s because that’s exactly what this CD is all about – chill, style and lookin’ good baby. Based around the theme of male models , the CD is cut with funny sound bites sending up the male modeling industry. The tracks range from laid back to soulful. You won’t find any fakin’ and frontin’ here, just good looks, good sounds and total rhyme skills. If you like it smooth and tasteful and you’d rather wear pleated trousers than baggy jeans then this is the disc you must own.

SB

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