The Science of Chappelle

Dave Chappelle’s Block Party concert/documentary can be seen as a funny rockumentary at first glance. The film follows Chappelle in the summer of 2004 until September of that year when he hosts a Block Party in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. It’s humor is racy, raunchy and true to the Chappelle spirit we’ve come to know from The Chappelle show. Though the concert has appearances from The Roots, Erikah Badu, Kanye West, Mos Def, Common, Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill, Talib Kweli, and surprise reunion of The Fugees other artists such as Cody Chesnutt and Wyclef Jean appear throughout the rehearsal and backstage scenes.

The cover of this film by Michel Gondry has a Beatles-esque Yellow Submarine feel to it, minus the cartoony people. Instead, everyone that appears in the film is shown in black and white in mural form behind Dave Chappelle, who appears in full color with a megaphone in hand. Most of the faces are recognizable and add to the effect of the event looking like a good time.

The fact that Dave Chappelle chose Michel Gondry to direct the film intrigues me for one very good reason; didn’t Michel Gondry direct cult-following art films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep? What business does he have sticking his nose in a hip-hop neo-soul documentary about Dave Chappelle throwing a block party? I suppose Dave Chappelle gets what he wants… like a $50 million deal to continue his TV show. Gondry’s cuts seem fitting to what I know of his work. The fast pacing with shaky camera work fits in well with Chappelle’s attitude towards things. They both have this sense of carelessness that justifies things and makes it alright for them to be a little rough around the edges because maybe that’s the way some things are meant to be. I enjoyed the way he would cut from the performer, to a mid audience shot, to a shot of an audience member during the live performance aspect of the film. It gave me a good sense of depth for the crowd density as well as the vibe and energy throughout the audience. I also enjoyed the behind the scene shots of them backstage or in prep mode for the event. Some might say the cuts from rehearsal to the live performance were cheesy but I found it gave way to the amount of preparation necessary for an event like this to happen successfully. For instance, when Dave wants the backing band to play accented hits to follow his stand up joke punch lines they show the failed attempt during rehearsal, then a flawless performance on stage.

Cody Chesnutt’s appearance was probably my personal favorite since I’ve always been a fan of his music and technique. His recordings are completely raw and the music translates as something authentic and honest. You might not recognize the name immediately but he has quite the fanbase. The Roots remade one of his songs, “The Seed” which got heavy airplay on music television and even has his song, “Look Good in Leather” on an Axe commercial. Hell, even Thom Yorke, of Radiohead, listed Cody Chesnutt as one of his favorite new acts in a past interview. It was sad he didn’t get more play-time in the film but The Roots, along with the other performers, were so solid and entertaining that it made for an easy distraction.

The location choice was interesting – The Broken Angel House. The place was built by, what appears to be, two burned out hippies still tripping on LSD; their teeth rotten, their clothes old and their spirits high. Some refer to Arthur and Cynthia Woods as artists which is interesting because I’m sure there’s people that would disagree with that the same way they disagreed with hip-hop or rap music being tolerable or worth listening to. I thought it was brilliant of Chappelle to probe and talk to them the way he did because it provided great footage and insight for Gondry to use as he saw fit. The way he cut back to it towards the end of the party after showing Mrs. Woods at the top of the structure, peace-sign in hand was just brilliant. I also found a beautiful tie between them and the other artists that transcended race and all aesthetic value. These were the same people from the streets and communities as the other artists in the film. As different as they appeared I believe a focus was to show what they had it common. In fact, a lot of this film had a positive attitude. When Dave was talking to his friends about the Woods and their place of residence he didn’t use much, if any, negativity. I also noticed this with Wyclef when he’s talking to the band of college students and when ?uestlove, aka Questlove, aka Questo, aka BROther ?uestion, is talking about The Roots and Dave Chappelle sharing this demographic that might not have been what they had hoped or intended their art for.

I think the intended market for this film is older teenagers and adults. While music performances do make up about half of the content, its comedy is extremely racial (while also harmless in some senses) and is not appropriate for a younger crowd that might misuse the jokes. Dave’s closeness to the people around him show a very down to earth side of Chappelle that allows you to remember what you liked about him to begin with. If you only watch this to see Erikah Badu’s wig go flying off on stage, then at least respect the fact that she power-housed through the rest of her performance and didn’t let any sort of aesthetic value ruin what her art was. Check out Cody Chesnutt’s 2002 release, The Headphone Masterpiece (especially the song, “Boylife in America”) and catch Dave Chappelle at a local dive comedy bar.