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As The Real work their way back to humor they take advantage of the fact that corporate white people talking about hip hop is funny by definition.
Unless you're a black man who's actually in that situation as Hadji J. Williams can attest.
Or, worse, if it leads to white people talking about your hat! Directly to you!! Even though you may someday be a rap superstar!!!
Pauly Shore on Racial Politics in the World of Comedy
Folks weren't sure how to take Pauly Shore's race talk in the above video, especially in the wake of Geraldine Ferraro, but he broke down the hip hop marketing angle for AllHipHop.
The short and popular video was basically a promo for Pauly's Natural Born Komics Sketch Comedy Movie: Miami that includes appearances by Vivica A. Fox, Charlie Murphy and T-Pain, at least one of whom, Charlie Murphy, he insults in the video.
Pauly told AllHipHop regarding the short video:
"I wanted to create a response, and these days for people to buy things you gotta create some type of awareness. Everyone in my movie - you've got Vivica [Fox], T-Pain, Charlie [Murphy] - I had to get to the Hip-Hop community because they're all fans of those people. Hip-Hop people aren't my fans. I get approached all the time on the street from Black people that love me, they give me hugs and I've been in the game for a long time. But as far as them purchasing a Pauly Shore DVD, it's not gonna happen."
Pauly Shore's Natural Born Komics Sketch Comedy Movie: Miami
Pauly says the idea came from Shawn Prez of Element Nine:
"The funny thing behind this [Black comedian rant video] is, I didn't even come up with this whole thing. It came from a place called Element Nine which is a Hip-Hop marketing company."
Shawn Prez suggested the tried and true tactic of marketing by creating beef:
"'You know rappers go after each other to sell DVDs or CDs, why don't you go after Black comedians?' He says, 'Why don't you rap?' I said, 'I don't f**king rap', and he says, 'Well let's do a video.' It wasn't even my idea. So he's the mastermind behind this whole thing."
I'm not the biggest fan of Pauly Shore but big ups to Pauly for not rapping!
Eckhart Tolle - A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
Russell Simmons says:
"When you get it, it's like a key turning inside you. Eckhart Tolle offers that bridge from this unconscious state that we live in to the state that we are evolving towards, like it or not."
ProHipHop Recognizes the Hidden Message:
LIKE IT OR NOT: BUY THIS BOOK NOW!!
Jenny McCarthy says:
"What happened to me as I was reading 'A New Earth,' I can best describe it as someone came and woke me up out of a dream and the dream just happened to be my entire life. It definitely made me realize that I was playing a role."
ProHipHop Reveals the Hidden Message:
DON'T PLAY A ROLE: BUY THIS BOOK NOW!!
Oprah added it to her Book Club!
Obama wishes he had time to read it [but can't say that out loud cause he's running for President!]!!!
ProHipHop Sides With Oprah & Says What Obama Can't:
BUY THIS BOOK! BUY THIS BOOK NOW!!
[Disclaimer: ProHipHop receives 6.48% from the sale of all books bought after clicking through to Amazon.]
Key Point: This Book Is On Sale Really Cheap At Amazon!
If your social network is your net worth, what will happen if everyone else reads this book before you do?
GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE! DITCH YOUR FEAR OF BEING LEFT BEHIND!
Available from Amazon:
Eckhart Tolle - A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
[Note: I've moved this post to the Comedy category to emphasize its satirical nature.]
Ali G Invents the Ice Cream Glove
on the real, this man knows how to maximize his time by cutting to the chase.
I've been checking out the start page space in preparation for a piece on Global Grind (globalgrind.com) and ran into Business Start Page at bspage.com, i.e., BS Page.
If you find such things mildly amusing, here's a top 10 worst domains list for you.
If you're kind of serious about this start page thing, check out this great interview with Dan Cohen, CEO of Pageflakes. He led iGoogle and My Yahoo as well as a couple of startups before joining Pageflakes.
Dave Chappelle - Inside the Actor's Studio
I just watched about half of Inside the Actor's Studio with Dave Chappelle. Really incredible stuff. Basically the host James Lipton works his way through Dave's biography including some honest discussion of Dave's trip to Africa and the general uproar over that.
Though Lipton's not the best interviewer, especially in terms of following up on some of the heavier things Dave drops, at least he stays out of the way for the most part.
Dave is funny, brilliant, insightful and quite willing to expose himself in ways that very few hip hop artists could get away with. In fact, he's far beyond folks in most fields of endeavor and I think this DVD would make an excellent gift as well as offering a lot to discuss in a classroom.
The DVD also has outtakes that I haven't watched yet. Unfortunately, I got about halfway through the feature and when I paused it the DVD software started the whole thing over. That wouldn't be a big deal except that whoever produced this thing does not allow you to skip the trailers, which I let run without sound while I did other things, and it doesn't have a menu for the feature. It's all one block of data even though the show itself is edited in such a way that it would have been easy to index.
But what's the likelihood that the rest of the show isn't also of high quality. I mean, we're not talking about a hip hop album, you know?
Available from Amazon:
Dave Chappelle - Inside the Actor's Studio
Update:
Still haven't seen the second half but I did check the outtakes and they're pretty cool, especially the one on the creation of Chappelle's Show.
Sanford and Son Champipple T-Shirt
Discussion of the question, "Who is Dave Champipple?", has taken off in the wake of Common's Peace Love Gap commercial in which he references "Dave Champipple".
It's widely thought, and I think most likely, that Dave Champipple is Dave Chappelle.
In the comments to the above linked post, where the discussion of this question has raged of late, I jokingly referred to Champipple as a mixture of Champale (which I actually drank with one of my underage brothers for a summer back in the 70s) and Ripple, a beverage of choice for exceptionally poor and/or exceptionally self-destructive individuals for its low price, high alcohol content and sweet taste.
However, a Google search for Champipple returns references to Sanford and Son where Champipple was a combination of champagne and Ripple.
Man, I can imagine Fred saying it now, "Champipple!"
Until a more credible authority emerges, I think Fred Sanford gets the last word on the meaning of Champipple.
But who is Dave Champipple?
I think the people have spoken and Dave Chappelle is awarded the shoutout.
Go Dave!
Common makes things clear:
Common On Gap Ad Lyrics, Dave Champipple, Seeing Peace In The Hood
One of the interesting things about moving to North Carolina after a year or so in San Francisco is getting over the feeling that I've moved out into the country. Actually, I really felt that way for a week or so before I got over it. But Raleigh, where I am now, and the Triangle, Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, are quite cosmopolitan in their own way without having to constantly remind you of the fact.
Of course, college basketball fans know all about this place, because the major colleges here, NC State, UNC and Duke, tend to kick national ass on a regular basis and all three have been NCAA champions more than once. In fact, as long as you leave pro sports out of the picture, North Carolina looks pretty good.
I mention the above because I heard some interesting tales from a former Charlie Goodnight's Comdey Club employee during breaks in NC State's victory over somebody or other (actually I didn't expect them to win but it was fun being in a crowded bar full of State fans when they pulled it off!). Charlie Goodnight's was singled out last year by USA Today as one of the top 10 comedy clubs in the U.S. Though I tend to mistrust such lists, it is true that they get well known acts, including at least one visit each by Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle.
My acquaintance was the one who got to drive Chris Rock to the club. She's a young white female and said that the Chris Rock experience in person is quite racially charged. In fact, when a black man tried to carry his luggage, he stopped him and demanded that a white person be found because he will only be served by white people. On the way to the club, he talked on his cell phone the whole time, often referring to the "white b*tch" who was driving him around. He did this multiple times. At the club, he was described as someone who everyone hated by the time he was gone.
Now, I can see the sick humor in this situation, especially for people obsessed with payback regarding whole races of humans, but I was immensely disappointed to hear that Chris Rock, one of my favorite comedians and an important commentator on racial realities, is basically an a-hole. Now, he may well treat other white people (especially those with money and power or big breasts) as fellow humans, but he certainly doesn't feel that way about the white working class. In fact, if you've never dealt with famous people as an underling in passing, there's a very strong chance you don't know much about who they really are.
However, I was quite pleased to hear that people working at Charlie Goodnight's totally dug Dave Chappelle. They said he was a really fine man and a pleasure to work with. I think that says a lot about him when the workers give him props. Cause, believe me, people who work in such settings get over being starstruck pretty quickly.
Update: I received a follow-up email from my contact after reading the above post. She describes her portrayal as "harsh" but "accurate." She says that she accepts such languag in performance but feels that terms like "b*tch" should be "reserved for the stage." She also says that this was not the first time she had "heard about him replacing a black person with a white one to carry his things" but that she hopes he tips well!
I know some folks haven't wanted to believe this because they're such big Chris Rock Fans. I'll have to say it's going to make it tougher for me to take in his act, which is sad because I really do dig his work. It's also a reminder that there are some really nasty people who make great art and hide their nastiness well. Often we don't find out till they're dead or their career has taken a dive and folks are ready to come forth. In any case, believe it or not as you wish, but it would be an interesting topic for an investigative reporter to pursue.
I would love to know what happens when the guy or gal who won an auction to meet Russell Simmons actually meets the man. I foresee something along the following lines:
"Mr. Simmons, it's so nice to meet you."
"Nice meeting you and why don't you call me Russell."
"Thanks, Russell. I just . . . "
"Hold, please, I've got a call."
I'm not going to front like I was a huge Richard Pryor fan, largely because I never really listened to recordings of standup comics which is where I think I would have caught his best stuff. I'm sorry to say that I know Pryor more from his check cashing movies that clearly didn't do him justice and missed flicks like Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip. If you have suggestions for stuff to check out, please add them to the comments.
Jay Smooth has a heartfelt response to Pryor's passing while Jeff Chang shares a couple of samples of his act along with a piece from 2000 that helps illuminates Pryor's impact.
NY Times:
Richard Pryor, Iconoclastic Comedian, Dies at 65
NPR:
The Boundless Gifts of Richard Pryor
With Biting Humor, Pryor Explored Race in America
NY Daily News:
Attitude, edge gave his humor extra bite
Wikipedia: Richard Pryor
Official site: Richard Pryor
Update: NPR has a Terry Gross interview with Richard Pryor from 1995.
Though BET's 2005 Comedy Awards aren't focused on hip hop, the list of nominees includes some well-known rappers among the other comedians.
In particular, the Outstanding Theatrical Film category includes three films featuring rappers, Ice Cube's Are We There Yet?, Queen Latifah's Beauty Shop and Will Smith's Hitch. All three also get nominations for Top Actor or Actress awards.
Eve was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for Eve while Andre 3000 was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Theatrical Film for Be Cool. HBO's P. Diddy Presents the Bad Boys of Comedy received a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Variety Series.
The awards show will be taped on Sept. 25th and televised on Tuesday, September 27th at 9 pm. Official site: BET
Just a quick note to make sure you know that the Cartoon Network will air an animated version of The Boondocks starting in October and that the comic strip is currently making fun of McDonalds' attempts at hip hop marketing. Unfortunately, the strips aren't very funny and I'm reminded that McGruder stopped drawing the comic a while back and just phones his ideas to someone else who realizes them. I'll look for the reference if anybody asks but it helps explain the increasing weakness of his work.
Writing about Chappelle and hip hop bloggers reminded me of Adisa Banjoko's podcasts of sections from a Robin Harris comedy show in which members of NWA heckle him and he abuses them mercilessly, describing one of them as ET with a jerri curl!
Dave Chappelle recently made surprise appearances at LA comedy clubs the Improv and the Comedy Store. Apparently the Comedy Store set ran 80 minutes which must have been a real blast. Chappelle is now reported to be in talks with Comedy Central though little is known of how that's going. After two weeks of sales, the second season dvd of Chappelle's Show has sold 1.4 million copies. The first season has sold 2.9 million copies to date and is the all-time highest selling tv series on dvd.
Available from Amazon:
Chappelle's Show - Season 1
Chappelle's Show - Season 2
TIME.com has an exclusive interview with Dave Chappelle and reveals that Chappelle is ok and is processing his success on retreat in South Africa. He doesn't seem to have issues with Comedy Central but reveals that there were problems due to the effects of his success on his inner circle. Oddly, I'm reminded of the following:
how P. Diddy's crew tried to f*ck up his relationship with Ashton Kutcher;
stories I used to read about how weird Mother Theresa's inner circle got; and,
the fact that even the worst drag queen has an ardent group of admirers.
It must be tough to watch close friends become yes-men (and women).
It's interesting to see how personal the Chappelle situation seems to be for many black writers, especially hip hop bloggers, as Lynne d Johnson and Hashim Warren reveal.
By the way, I'm also reminded of a pet journalistic peeve. TIME.com got an exclusive with Dave Chappelle. That means they were the only ones who got to talk to him, though that may not last. However, you'll often see hip hop sites claim to have an exclusive when they really mean they were the only ones talking to someone at that moment. That's not an exclusive, y'all. But dig this, Dave Chappelle's personal problems covered by TIME.com? He is so huge, no wonder he needs some time off.
Apparently one of the jurors, who had to listen to an awfully long list of famous people who will testify on Michael's Jackson's behalf (that they weren't present when any of the alleged incidents took place?), was later asked if he recognized the name Depak Chopra. In response to the District Attorney's question, the juror replied, "I think he's a rapper." Guess Depak needs to work on that branding.
View this intelligently done, copyright violating webpage for the Ashlee Simpson Karaoke Edition iPod that I found via one of the great blogs of our time, Notes from a Different Kitchen.
Now the RIAA is suing the dead. I guess it really is about the principle rather than the money, although I bet none of the lawyers' billable hours were reduced. No doubt their next step will be to sue the undead.
Zombies rip tracks.
Must share files.
Better than brains.
Hey, at least they're not suing us for thinking about filesharing. Yet.
50 Cent appears on XXL cover with a crossbow! Crossbow sales skyrocket!
This must be my day. After all that heaviness, comedy is flooding the room. At this very moment, Yahoo News is running an item from Reuters/Hollywood Reporter (at least that's who's credited with providing the article in whatever agreement they have) that's about Martha Stewart. But I'm guessing they're either using automated picture matching like Google News does or, because Kimora is getting into Martha's space (in terms of product lines), I think it was just one of those moments of serendipidy meant to brighten my world.
But that's really so perfect considering what's to come from Ms. Simmons.
If you really need to see the picture and they take it down before you do. I can send you a screenshot.
[Update: Kimora's picture has been traded for Martha's, but it will always be emblazoned on my memory.]
There are certain things I did not anticipate about doing this project and one of them was keeping up with awards shows. Thankfully it's more of a seasonal thing because I'm finding myself much more interested in the oddball awards like Wednesday night's taping of VH1's Big in 2004, which will be aired December 5th. It sounds like a lot of fun but it feels like it's over before it's begun. Hip hop attendees included Black Eyed Peas, Flavor Flav (with the bigger than life Brigitte Nielsen) and P. Diddy, who apparently stood under a sign proclaiming his presidential aspirations for 2008. However, he's more likely to run as VP to Russell Simmons after Russell does a turn or two as Mayor of New York. I'm only kind of joking on that one. I think there's a fairly high probability that Russell will run for office sometime in the next 12 years.
Although I appreciated Solvej Schou's fashion conscious coverage of the event in this article, I think it's f*cked up to say, "The blind singer (ironically) received a standing ovation." Since you've obviously never experienced a standing ovation Mr. or Ms. Schou, let me assure you that when they stand up, you'll feel it whether you can see it or not. But I guess that won't be added to your list of accomplishments.
As I regain my composure, I'm reminded to be grateful that Paris Hilton will not be putting out a hip hop album anytime soon. I didn't sign on to cover really boring people. Although I guess I'll have to make an exception if Jessica Simpson's boyfriend really follows through with his quasi-rap act plans. However, I did not sign on to cover stabbings either and that went down in my first days on the job.
And, no, my bitterness has nothing to do with Huggy Bear being voted off I'm a Celebrity.
The December issue of Black Enterprise features the business of black comedy, including the variety of revenue streams available to contemporary entertainers.
In related Black Enterprise news, Editor-in-Chief Alfred A. Edmond has been offering post-game commentary after each episode of The Apprentice.
Last week it was reported that Dave Chappelle's Showtime Special would be released in June by Sony. Chappelle's high status and wide following within the ranks of hip hop fans is undeniable. Hopefully this release will be a bright spot for Sony, an influential company with streaks of brilliance, whose S&P credit rating was recently lowered for the first time in a decade.
As shooting continues on the film version of The Honeymooners, featuring a black cast, I was gratified to learn that Art Carney's widow, Barbara Carney, visited the set to bestow her blessings. The feature also briefly discusses the mass market appeal of Barbershop that opened the way for an all or predominantly black Honeymooners' cast.
Eminem has been nominated for a coveted Weasel Award in the Weaseliest Celebrity category. Other nominees include Ashlee Simpson and Michael Jackson. Hosted by Dilbert.com, voting by the public ends on Dec. 1. Winners will be announced on the 7th.
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