Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Don't you wish you were Dave Chappelle? The guy is funny as hell--and rich and famous for it. What's more, he's socially conscious and has impeccable taste in music. Thanks to Michel Gondry's triumphant, uplifting film, we got to see Chappelle live out his personal fantasy--a "block party" in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy 'hood. The comedian handpicked his favorite hip-hop and R&B; artists to participate, and the roster includes some of the most significant names of the past 10 years of "urban" music, including the Roots, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and Common. Unfortunately, the CD omits the Fugees reunion that formed the climax of the film and it also leaves out a stirring performance by Kanye West, the biggest rap star of the day. That said, the music that is here is often scintillating, especially by Badu and Scott, who kill with their own tracks and spice up many of the rap tracks to boot. The one new cut (not in the film), Blackstar's "Born & Raised," keeps the quality high. Not surprisingly, the soundtrack simply can't reconstruct the positive vibrations and powerful messages of the movie, but it's still a worthwhile document of the magic that happened on a rainy September 2004 day at the corner of Downing and Quincy.--Marc Greilsamer