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Last Updated: May 30th, 2008 - 11:49:13 |
Love Dave Chappelle or hate him—whether you consider him a comic genius or a nouveau jigaboo—there’s no denying that he managed, in his “Chappelle’s Show” on Comedy Central, to produce his own quirky vision, and have that vision wildly embraced by millions of TV viewers.
In his first movie, “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party,” a portion of his TV show format—
the hip hop performance—takes center stage. The result is the best concert film to come along in a minute. If you’ve been on the outs with hip hop of late, you might find yourself loving it again as you luxuriate in the beats and images of artists such as The Roots and Dead Prez. These artists are seldom, if ever, heard on commerical radio but, through the media miracle known as Dave Chappelle, suddenly loom large in a feature-length movie.
Not only does the film give deserved attention to these artists, it serves as a valuable visual document of hip hop that lives outside the frame of a music video—Erykah Badu snatches off her wig on stage, Dead Prez still talks about “F--- the police,” Mos Def airs his support for jailed political prisoners in the United States. On the milder side, there are electrifying performances by Kanye West, joined by John Legend and Common. The biggest surprise of the show is a reunion of the Fugees and a solo by Lauren Hill, looking frail and overly made-up, who is greeted by fans gone wild.
There is also the odd reality, stated most succinctly by a member of The Roots, that many of these artists, including Dave Chappelle before his TV success, often have concert audiences that are overwhelmingly White, as they are more likely to receive airplay and exposure on alternative and college stations, than on mainstream Black outlets. This block party, an open-air concert staged in the heart of the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, uses big media, and the power associated with it, to bring Black music home to the Black community.
This arranged marriage, of sorts, is sweet to watch, even if we as viewers are painfully aware of the peculiar nature of the union. The music is still wrapped up in Dave’s vision, which is peppered with some consistent woman-hating, foul language usually associated with a woman’s sexuality and his usual barbs aimed, more pointedly in this movie, at the Black community.
This block party ultimately allows Dave Chappelle to live out his fantasy on a grand scale on the big screen. It’s like he has always wanted to be one of the boys and now, with big media on his side, he’s officially in the club.
He presents us proudly the official Dave Chappelle B-Boy Network.
Esther Iverem’s new book of poems, “Living in Babylon,” is available at Amazon.com
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
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