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MP3 Live: Chappelle's block-rocking beats

Comedian, back from hiatus and ready to tout his upcoming Native Tongues-centric Block Party rockumentary, gets some help from friends Mos Def and Erykah Badu.
emDave Chappelle's Block Party/em

Dave Chappelle's Block Party

SAN FRANCISCO--The Dave Chappelle reemergence tour stopped off in San Francisco last night, and the comical button-pusher brought some multitalented friends along to welcome him back to the spotlight.

Rapper-turned-renaissance man Mos Def and hip-hop chanteuse Erykah Badu joined Chappelle to promote the March 3 release of Dave Chappelle's Block Party, a concert film about a 2004 event in Brooklyn that Chappelle organized while at the height of his popularity.

The Michel Gondry-directed film features Mos Def and Badu, along with Kanye West, John Legend, The Roots, Common, Jill Scott, and a reunion of The Fugees. To help promote the movie, Chappelle quickly organized a tour featuring different stars of the movie along the way. Last night's show was announced only last week, and tickets sold out in 15 minutes.

Although music dominated the night, the 1,800-strong audience at The Warfield made sure that Chappelle, who turned his back on his hugely popular, eponymous Comedy Central show last year and sparked a flurry of rumors about his mental state in doing so, felt welcomed back from the outset.

After an opening set by local comic W. Kamau Bell, who warmed the crowd with barbs about the likes of Flava Flav, Condoleezza Rice, and white guys with dreadlocks, Chappelle emerged to a deafening standing ovation.

"This has been a crazy year," Chappelle said. "I have been declared insane by every major media publication in America. But it's not that bad--it's the most liberating thing that's ever happened to me."

Chappelle followed that lead-in with a punch line about how he recently relieved himself sexually in a woman's coffee cup at Starbucks.

"It's okay, I'm crazy!" he shouted.

But save for a generic rant about Brokeback Mountain, Chappelle largely eschewed jokes and leaned on his self-deprecating style.

Mos Def

He brought out Mos Def first, with the Brooklyn rapper, backed by a DJ, darting into tracks from his 2004 album, The New Danger.

Mos continued the thoroughly informal vibe of the night by having his DJ preface a few of his songs by playing the song they sampled. Prior to jumping into "Ms. Fat Booty," perhaps his biggest hit, Mos beamed and danced across the stage to "One Step," the Aretha Franklin song it samples.

In between verses of "Ms. Fat Booty," he casually segued into "Bonita Applebum" from Tribe Called Quest and "Passin' Me By" from Pharcyde. But all was not hugs and kisses, as Mos performed his new song, "Katrina Klap," a diatribe about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Laced over the beat of New Orleans rapper Juvenile's "Nolia Clap," Mos sang: "It's dollar day in New Orleans/It's where water's everywhere and babies dead in the streets/It's enough to make you holler out/Like where the f**k is Sir Bono and his famous friends now/Don't get it twisted man I dig U2/But if you ain't about the ghetto, then f**k you too/Who cares 'bout rock 'n' roll when babies can't eat food/Listen homie man that shit ain't cool."

After Mos Def left the stage, Chappelle came back out to make a request. "You know, one of my favorite things is that my friends can be my CD changer," he said.

Taking a mild swipe at reports of his mental illness, he said, "When I was in Africa in a mental institution, you know what got me by? A certain friend's Umi."

Mos Def reappeared to perform "Umi Says," his soul-drenched take on the inspiration he derives from his parents: "Umi said shine your light on the world/Shine your light for the world to see."

Both Mos Def and Badu gave extended shout-outs to Jay Dee/J-Dilla, the highly regarded producer who passed away last week at the age of 32 from complications related to lupus. Mos performed the Dilla-produced "Stakes is High" from De La Soul, while Badu sang "Didn't Cha Know" after telling an intimate story about the first time she met the producer.

"I know he's watching this show," she said.

Erykah Badu (� 2006 Trevor Paulhus/Okayplayer.com)

The singer's set was vintage Badu. Backed by a six-piece band that proved limber but decidedly in the pocket, the songstress showed off songs from 2003's laid-back Worldwide Underground.

Since coming onto the scene with 1997's "On & On," Badu has steadily evolved into an enormously understated version of James Brown, vocally directing band members to stop and start the beat and dropping soul-inflected grunts and squeals to urge the groove forward.

It all amounted to a jam session-type atmosphere; the kind which Badu and the other artists featured in Block Party have become known for. Badu capped off her set with the song on which she struts her stuff like no other--the pay your own way "Tyrone." It was here that Badu was at her sassy but classy best: "Oh, well hold up/Listen patna/I ain't no cheap thrill/Cause Miss Badu is always comin' for real/And you know the deal."

At the end of the night, all three performers then took to the front of the stage, for a seemingly impromptu improv, with Mos Def and Badu teaming up on percussion to lay down a beat for a little freestyle, promotional rap from Chappelle.

This was by no means a proper concert, but nary an attendee showed buyer's remorse for shelling out $55 for what amounted to a preview of the block-party vibe of the movie.

This was Chappelle's kind of party, and it brought the house down.

The Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin' Beats [Single]

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MP3 Live: Chappelle's block-rocking beats

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