Ten years have passed since the end of the immensely popular Comedy Central show, “Chappelle Show.” In that time, Dave Chappelle voyaged off to Africa, ended his hysterical show, performed sporadic stand up shows around the country and kind of became a recluse.
Eighteen years since fans have listened to a new album from A Tribe Called Quest. In that time, Tribe lost one of their integral members with Phife Dawg (RIP) and brought the guys back together for a last hurrah. The cerebral hip hop group delivered with one of the most important albums of the late year. And not because the “Midnight Marauders” resurfaced after all of these years, but because of the social issues that “We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service” tackles, ranging from gentrification, social inequality and immigration. These issues are difficult conversations that America is facing at this time; specifically with election results coming through in a sobering way for the American public.
Dave Chappelle nailed an opening monologue that talked a lot of fans off the ledge. There’s still a lot of work to be done. Chris Rock tag teamed in a voting party sketch where the two attempt to serve as a voice of reason in a room of Caucasian voters that discounted the heartland of America. Despite winning the popular vote, Hillary Clinton lost the election. This isn’t news, but perhaps the Electoral College might be an antiquated way for the country to elect a president? It’s kind of the same way we still observe daylight savings time and kids have summers off. We all don’t live on farms, and kids aren’t needed to work the farm in the summer any longer.
Through humor and music, Dave reprised old standbys from “the Chappelle Show” with Tyrone Biggums meets “Walking Dead” and two dynamite performances (“We the People” and “Space Program“) from A Tribe Called Quest. As a collective whole, we needed to be reminded how to laugh again. This was exactly what our country needed at a time like this where many are left looking for answers and struggling to refocus on life one day at a time.
A Tribe Called Quest-Footprints (remix) ft. Cee-Lo Green [mp3]
A Tribe Called Quest – We The People….(Live on SNL)
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