A Short Note for Dave Chappelle

Dave Chappelle held a Haitian-like rebellion in the intellectual Vietnam that is the war for the hearts and minds of young people. Right now he is on hiatus—but he said that he is a Muslim on Inside the Actors Studio—so just for saying that—plus going to Africa—means his hiatus might take a spell.

The Rick James sketch broke out of the ghetto of one-dimensional Def-comedy, black humor. It was a multidimensional tour de force that finally took a lesson from the humor of George Clinton and Richard Pryor. Every kid will go around saying “I’m Rick James bitch” until the pus-dripping corporate cows come home—but there were other bits of information in this historical sketch that won’t be fully appreciated until a white person makes an Elvis copy—and then it will suddenly be ingenious. These are a few points:

• It was the first time in Black television history that the subject of what is called “self-hatred” was made into fun. Rick James clearly had issues with strong African features. Rick James loved Black people but he did not love Black people—this logic escapes the dialectical mindset. The way he addressed the Murphy brothers as “the darkness brothers” and the deliberately-cast light and white women surrounding Chappelle playing Rick James sent a clear message to the properly schooled. I’m trying to flip through 1970s episodes of The Jefferson’s or Sanford and Son to see a precedent but I’m sure this is a first. Deliberately and consciously sending messages like this cannot be understated. Remember who Dave Chappelle’s mother is (you are not going to get her information from wikipedia.org)…
• The right-brain activity of synthesizing a documentary interview with the comedic dramatization sent the sketch into the stratosphere. This technique is usually reserved for “serious” documentary filmmakers or journalists. So we can call this form of sampling something of hip hop culture—and this is the level of culture hip hop culture should start at—because by interviewing the elder we have an African thang going on… And what is sublimely funny is that Dave pays respect to his African elder by playing him as he was… there was no disrespect—no gross, false distortion of history… Rick James was a stone cold fool, but he is still an elder and deserves respect and commemoration for his foolishness…
• Charlie Murphy tells you the story as he would tell any dude on the street the story. There is no Cosby-style, jubilee-singer antisepsis going on for a theoretical white audience. Charlie’s delivery, of an urban, oral tradition (to use pretentious college words) is a first-class citizen among all the high-tech wizardry that is motion picture making. Moreover, this highlights the innovative way Dave Chappelle hosts his show: he speaks directly to his audience, beyond the traditional confines of the monologue.
• Understand the significance of the last line that was repeated in slow motion: “They should have never given you niggas money!” I know without knowing the facts that it was not Dave’s writing partner that made sure this line (and many others) was repeated let alone written. When it comes to the day-to-day struggle for excellence in the Black world, it’s not the white folks holding progressives back—it’s the self-appointed, self-hypnotized agents of white folks that do most of the dirty work. Rick James is dem white folks. He is a founding father of our modern form of bling bling. Now, Teena Marie, a Rick James protégé, is a very talented woman—more talented than Diana Ross. But I would not be surprised about how many others Rick James overlooked because they were “too Black.”So, one of the most profitable Comedy Central vehicles is on hiatus. This proves again—for a new generation of young people—that for Black excellence like that of Dave Chappelle there is no competition. There is only betrayal and murder. I used to think those people in power used what they call “logic” when it comes to showing respect to those who keep the books in the black. It ain’t “logic” as they define this word, it’s humanity as defined by Harold Bloom—Shakespearean tragic. There will always be at least one Iago for Othello.

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