Dave Chappelle made news a few months ago when it was announced that he wouldn't be returning to do anymore episodes of "Chappelle's Show" for Comedy Central. Even before that, he was making headlines for the fact that he apparently bailed on the show to go to Africa for some peace of mind. What amazed me more than either of those is how many people either have never even seen "Chappelle's Show" or have and didn't think it was funny. To me, that makes him an extremely underrated and you could even say under-appreciated talent. To this day, his Rick James skit and Wayne Brady bit are two of the funniest things I've ever seen on television.
While he was still doing his show, he took a break from it to stage a free, unpublicized, all-star hip-hop concert in Brooklyn and document the whole thing on video. The end result is "Dave Chappelle's Block Party". The timing of it's release (on dvd anyway) was perfect because for those of us that miss having new episodes of the show, there's this in it's place.
He invited fans to the event supposedly via the internet although I don't ever remember seeing an invitation that way. He also went back to his hometown and gave out "golden tickets" which paid for the folks transportation there AND a hotel room for the stay. That was an excellent idea but what's up with only giving them away in your hometown? Here we are just two states away.
Out of the artist performances, there were a couple that really stood out. Jill Scott was one. If Mary J. Blige is the queen of hip-hop soul, Jill is unquestionably the queen of neo-soul. She writes her own joints and can sing her butt off. She's also part of one of the tightest R&B/hip-hop collaborations of all-time with the song "You Got Me". Oh, and as she's quick to point out, she does it all without having to take off her clothes.
It was also extremely cool to see Mos Def and Talib Kweli together again as BlackStar. They really need to put out a new joint. Who cares if they still don't get the mass appreciation they deserve. True hip-hop heads everywhere, including myself, will love it.
Without question, the one performance that took the cake was Lauryn Hill. I'd like to say it was the Fugees since they technically reunited for this event, but let's be real...there's no Fugees without her. They could have closed out the show with just her performing and they couldn't have asked for a better finale. I guess maybe the grand finale, or curtain call, could have been them together doing "Ready or Not. As long as they let Lauryn freestyle rhyme and sang, all would be good.
All of the concert footage was pretty ill. I can imagine being there would have been even better since you get the unedited versions. To no one's surprise, the best part of the documentary is Dave's improv both on the streets with ordinary people and while he was on stage. Makes me wish even more so that he would have stopped whining about the problems of being rich, sucked it up and make some more seasons of "Chappelle's Show". Instead, I guess I'll have to get by with this and the two seasons that I have on dvd. Thanks, Dave.
My Rating: B

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