Link: Official Dave Chappelle Block Party Site
The Inside Pulse:
During his 18-month run as America’s “designated Negro”, Dave Chappelle was given the green light to bring an interesting concept to the silver screen. His Block Party concert film featured several of Chappelle’s favorite Hip Hop performers at a gloriously unglamorous gala held in Brooklyn in September 2004. The film debuted last month to strong reviews and, to date, has pulled in about $12 million in its limited release. While the movie did the genre proud by capturing the eclectic essence of Hip Hop’s several styles, live rap albums are often an unpredictable endeavor. Their inherently raw quality can be a captivating sonic experience in the right mic. In the wrong hands, however, it can be a car wreck on wax.
Positives:
Dead Prez gets things started with the booming and bombastic Hip Hop. Like Dead Prez, themselves, the track is loud, angry and unapologetic, while addressing rap’s roots and taking corporate America head on. Meanwhile, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu take every cut they touch to the next level. Scott’s Golden is wonderfully inspiring, while Badu reaches the same solo heights on Back in the Day. The two then join forces with The Roots on the phenomenal You Got Me. Speaking of which, The Roots’ ubiquitous band provide most of the backdrop here and the end results are, predictably, almost all goodness.
Negatives:
This is an oddly “polished” live album. While there are occasional instances of microphone feedback (especially evident on Mos Def’s Umi Says) and crowd response, there were other times where the music seemed strong, yet sterile. Blackstar’s Definition, for example, just seemed”¦off. Elsewhere, Common dusts off The Light from 1999 for yet another variation of a tired song, while Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane fall all over themselves with their mediocre team-up on Boom. And, as those of you who saw the movie already know, neither live performance by Kanye West or the reunited Fugees could be cleared for inclusion here.
Cross-Breed:
Let’s call it a collection of the last two minutes from every episode of Chappelle’s Show.
Reason to Buy:
Quite frankly, a collaboration with this caliber of talent is almost impossible to come across these days. Even if all the artists aren’t your cup of tea, the production is solid from start to finish. Still, unless you really need Mos Def in your CD player again, just wait for the movie’s DVD release, when you’ll get the best parts that are missing from this.
