DAVE CHAPELLE’S BLOCK PARTY

What group of music fans hasn’t sat around working up a lather of infectious enthusiasm belting out their favorite songs? What music fan hasn’t sat back and had pipe dreams about putting their favorite acts together for an ideal concert? If he/she only had the clout! Like  Dave Chapelle. “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party” is just what the title says it is - a good old fashion urban block party but with a Who’s Who of hip hop and rap artists shot in the middle of Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy in September of 2004.  

What really comes through is Chapelle’s enthusiasm. He’s a fan first and a  performer second, although “Dave Chapelle’s Block Party” is not totally without some of his comic musings. He goes out into his home town and community in Ohio and rounds up some neighbors and friends, storekeepers and a local college marching band and ships them off on buses to the concert in Brooklyn. Not all are fans of the music, but they are fans of Chapelle. Whether you’re a fan of hip hop, rap, or latter day soul music like Chapelle or not, it’s hard not to respond to the sincerity of the energetic performers and the people who showed up to embrace their music.

I am not particularly an avid fan of some of the performers but a few of the them were so amazing I could easily become a convert. Kanye West’s Jesus Walks with John Legend sharing the vocals with the marching band providing the beat was a knockout. Other highlight were the Fugees with Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill singing the Roberta Flack classic Killing Me Softly with a hip hop beat.

If anything, “Dave Chapelle’s Block Party” shows music can be a unifying force that can bring people from varying walks of life with different socio-economic backgrounds together. Wyclef Jean was inspirational speaking to a group of high school kids about his humble beginnings.  He stressed education and hard work as the cornerstones of success regardless of one’s roots. Talent of any kind needs to be recognized and nurtured. The visits to the nearby local Brooklyn day care center, the conversations underscoring its role in the community, and a walk through of Broken Angel, the abandoned looking building that served as the concert’s home base, home to artist Arthur Wood and his wife, both white, embodied these ideas without being preachy.

I believe Chapelle and director Michele Gondry have striven not only to entertain his audience with Chapelle’s music of choice but also to stress the need for social justice and the value of tolerance and self respect. The movie indirectly embodies the oft used cliché: Be All That You Can Be.

I did not see Chapelle’s appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show talking about his self imposed retreat to a Muslim community in Africa while rumors ran rampant in the media at home about his turning down a princely sum to renew his contract at Comedy Central. I did see his subsequent interview with James Lipton on Inside the Actor’s Studio.  He more than demonstrated his broad appeal as a comedic talent. He also made a good case for resisting a big paycheck at the cost of losing his identity. Catch it on re-runs.

                                                                                                                      Copyright 2006