Dave Chappelle's Block Party
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Dave Chappelle's Block Party (aka Block Party) is a documentary film hosted and written by comedian Dave Chappelle, and directed by Michel Gondry.
Plot
The film features Chappelle during the fall of 2004 when he threw a block party in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The film gained prominence after its production, as it followed Chappelle's highly-publicized decision to walk away from a $50 million deal to continue his hit Chappelle's Show. He invited several alternative hip hop and neo-soul musical artists to perform at the party, including Kanye West, Mos Def, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and The Roots along with The Central State University Marching Band. Lauryn Hill was also scheduled to perform at the party, but since Columbia Records refused to release her songs for use in the production, she decided instead to reunite The Fugees for the occasion. In addition, Chappelle performed comedy monologues and sketches in between the musical acts.Performers
- Kanye West
- Mos Def
- Talib Kweli
- Jill Scott
- Erykah Badu
- The Roots
- Common
- Big Daddy Kane
- Kool G Rap
- The Fugees
- Wyclef Jean (solo)
- Bilal
- Dead Prez
- Cody ChesnuTT
- John Legend
- Central State University Marching Band
Soundtrack
A compilation of "music from and inspired by" the film was released on March 14, 2006.The album was released by Geffen Records, and produced by Corey Smyth for Blacksmith Music Corp and ?uestlove.
1. Hip Hop - Dead Prez
2. Definition - Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli)
3. Golden - Jill Scott
4. Universal Magnetic - Mos Def
5. The Blast - Talib Kweli feat. Erykah Badu
6. The Light - Common feat. Erykah Badu & Bilal
7. Boom! - The Roots feat. Big Daddy Kane & Kool G. Rap
8. Back in the Day - Erykah Badu
9. The Way - Jill Scott
10. UMI Says - Mos Def
11. You Got Me - The Roots feat. Erykah Badu & Jill Scott
12. Born & Raised - Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli)
All songs except track 12 recorded live in concert. Track 12 an exclusive new studio track from Mos Def and Talib Kweli's Black Star.
Many performances, including the Fugees' reunion performance could not be included due to legal restraints with the group's record label.
The album was dedicated to the memory of James D. Yancey aka J Dilla.
Trivia
- Its format was inspired by the documentary Wattstax.
- An incomplete version of the film was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival.
- The movie had its European premiere at a screening during the "Berlinale 2006" - the international movie festival in Berlin - on 2006-02-19.
- Date of the party was September 18, 2004.
- This was the second of two films released on March 3, 2006 with Mos Def. The other film to be released was 16 Blocks in which Mos Def starred with Bruce Willis.
- Just six months after the block party, Chappelle would make the controversial decision to cancel his third season of Chappelle's Show.
- The film had been dedicated to late music producer J Dilla.
Box Office and reception
As of March 19, 2006, the film grossed a total of 11.1 million dollars in the United States Box Office. It received a 93% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, making it the best reviewed wide release of 2006 to date.[link]External links
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