Paul and Dan were already known for their hip-hop production work before they joined forces as Handsome Boy Modeling School. Paul had produced a slew of hip-hop records, including De La Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising"; Dan produced albums by Kool Keith and Cornershop, as well as his own projects. But they found cult status with the first Handsome Boy Modeling School record, "So … How's Your Girl?," a catchy fusion of old-school hip-hop, guitar-driven alternative rock, trip-hop and experimental electronica that was loosely based around an episode of the Chris Elliot sitcom "Get a Life."
Guests on the album included Biz Markie, DJ Shadow, Cibo Mato and Del tha Funkee Homosapien, among a cast of dozens. The Post's Curt Fields named it one of the best records of 1999, calling it "a hip-hop martini so dry it borders on arid, perfect for the chill out room."
Handsome Boy Modeling School would manage one more album, 2004's similarly expansive "White People," before dissolving two years later, and they haven't appeared together since.
Until New Year's Eve, that is. Little Miss Whiskey's owner Mark Thorpe says that "all credit goes to Jacob Rabadi," a longtime bartender and member of U.S. Royalty, who negotiated with Prince Paul and Dan the Automator "all week" until finally getting confirmation on Friday afternoon.
Handsome Boy Modeling School will DJ from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on New Year's Eve. Tickets are $125, including a top-shelf open bar "with no exclusions" from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. To prevent overcrowding, only 100 tickets are available, and guests must be at least 24 years old. (Thorpe restricts the ages of admitted guests in an effort to reduce New Year's Eve problems. According to the invite: "No Amateurs. No Imbeciles. No Refunds.")