S. Samuel
New York rapper Talib Kweli has weighed in on the current status of fallen Comedy Central star Dave Chappelle and updated fans on what the stand-up comedian has been up to as of late.
According to Kweli, he occasionally links up with Chappelle to perform.
“I do shows with Dave and link up with Dave a few times during the year,” Kweli revealed in an interview. “We did a show at a comedy club. Black Star and Dave Chappelle — and it’s great because me and Mos [Def] come out and do 20 minutes, Dave does 20 minutes and then me and Mos come out. Dave is in a position where he does what he wants to do. He lives in Ohio on a farm. He has his Harley [Davidson motorcycle], he books little gigs whenever he feels like getting out and telling some jokes.” (XXL Mag)
Kweli also said despite Chappelle insanity rumors, he believes the comedian is in complete control of his career.
“Dave’s passionate,” Talib added. “There’s certain people in our lifetime that are going to be so passionate that the world’s not gonna understand them. Kanye West is one of them people. Dave Chappelle is one of them people. His passion for his craft overwhelmed him at a point where his star was rising and he pulled back from it to sort of take control over things in his life that he felt like were getting out of control. I’ve never been in a position where somebody offered me $50 million so I can’t even pretend like I can even begin to relate and begin to tell him what he should be doing…The great thing about Dave is say what you want to say about the moves he’s made, but he’s in a position to do whatever the f*ck he wants to do. If he decided to do a show at Yankee Stadium, with the right bill, he could do it. He could be like, ‘I’m going to do Yankee Stadium,’ and that’s a h*ll of a position to be in. People might think he’s [crazy] but if Dave Chappelle wanted to be in movies, he could do it. He could do whatever he wants to do…” (XXL Mag)
Last summer, comedian JB Smoove talked to SOHH and shared his thoughts on Chappelle’s seclusion from stardom.
“I think we, as comics, have to evolve and keep up with the times. So for us and with Dave, when Dave with through that whole Comedy Central thing, I think he had to evolve. I think he didevolve and he ended up somewhere else that he didn’t want to be at. But a lot of comics like myself, man, I’m different. I’m a comic that’s pretty satisfied with the phones ringing with a steady flow of shows, steady flow of movies, steady flow of stuff. Some comics, they have bigger opportunities like the ‘Chappelle’s Show.’ The show was huge at that time, all that money and it makes you have to step back sometimes and release yourself and look at yourself and say, ‘Is this where I want to be as a comic? Is this who I am right now?'” (SOHH Guest Star)
After stopping his successful “Chappelle’s Show” after only two seasons on Comedy Central, the comedian later explained his reasons for leaving the limelight.
“I would go to work on the show and I felt awful every day, that’s not the way it was. … I felt like some kind of prostitute or something. If I feel so bad, why keep on showing up to this place? I’m going to Africa. The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.” (Inside the Actors Studio)
Check out Talib Kweli speaking on Dave Chappelle below:
Kweli on Chappelle from XXL Video on Vimeo.
