Handsome Boy Modeling School

Paul Huston, aka Prince Paul, originally made his name as part of the New York rap collective Stetsasonic and produced De La Soul's classic album 'Three Feet High and Rising', while his old friend, West Coast DJ Dan the Automator worked with DJ Shadow, Kool Keith and Cornershop. When the old friends got together as Handsome Boy Modelling School in the late 1990s, their eclectic influences, daft sense of humour and a long list of contacts really ran amok. Taking their name from an episode of sitcom 'Get a Life', they created the alter-egos of Chest Rockwell and Nathaniel Merriweather - two pretentious, globetrotting male models - and penned a soundtrack to their chic, swanky lifestyle on debut album 'So... How's Your Girl?'. Full of retro samples, strutting, languid beats and soul-jazz grooves, the album featured Sean Lennon, Beastie Boy Mike D, Alec Empire and Moloko's Roisin Murphy and was widely praised for its mix of old skool hip-hop charm and stylish, genre-mashing invention.

Dan the Automator went on to produce records for Gorillaz, Primal Scream and Kasabian and also formed the supergroup Deltron 3030, while Prince Paul released several solo albums. They did re-unite for a second album, however, with 'White People' being released in 2004. A huge collection of artists such as Cat Power, Franz Ferdinand, Pharrell, Jack Johnson and RZA appeared on the record, and their sound developed into a wide-ranging, quirky collage of swaggering, funky styles. In 2016 Prince Paul released 'Throwback the Future' with the Brazilian hip-hop fusion group BROOKZILL!