Legendary comedian Dave Chappelle recently held another Block Party, this time with socially distant measures featuring a range of guests including Erykah Badu, Common, Questlove, Talib Kweli, Michelle Wolf, Tiffany Haddish, Michael Che and Jon Hamm. This event took place at Chappelle’s home in Yellow Spring, Ohio.
According to Pitchfork, special guests were tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, while attendees wore masks during the event and had their temperatures checked upon arrival. Mask wearing and a six-foot distance were also heavily enforced, while folding chairs were staggered across the lawn. Artists appeared to be exempt from these measures on social media posts.
Chappelle joined in on the music performances, doing a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” from their 1993 debut Pablo Honey, while Badu did a rendition of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” from their breakout album Nevermind. Kweli, Common, and Chappelle did Eric B. and Rakim’s “Paid in Full,” the title track from their 1987 debut album while Hamm sang Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin,'” from their 1981 album Escape.
Drummer Questlove from The Roots said he drove “over 900+miles” for the event to get on a drum set for the first time in several months. He expressed that this journey was worth the effort however, as many of the artists may have felt like they were getting “rusty” due to not performing in several months, because of the pandemic.
This is not the first time that Chapelle has hosted a Block Party event in his home state of Ohio, back in 2004 he invited then up-and-coming rapper Kanye West and rap veteran Mos Def for a set of intimate performances. These shows were eventually made into a documentary. The comedian was recently featured on Netflix’s Landmark Comedy Festival, which contained 11 new specials.
Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado
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