On Sunday, a fresh edition of Drink Champs with Dave Chappelle, Donnell Rawlings, and the rap group Black Star was made available (Aug. 14). The comedian initially asked that the program, which had been teased before the mass killings in Buffalo and Uvalde earlier this year, be postponed in memory of the tragedy.
The episode that recently surfaced was shot at Chappelle’s Ohio club, The Shack. The Shack was the last location the comic saw DMX before the rapper passed away in 2021, the comedian said, calling it “a home for our culture.” The Shack is housed inside an old car garage that Chappelle bought and renovated years ago. Other musicians who have visited The Shack include Common and Chance The Rapper.
Chappelle revealed that he encountered opposition when trying to book rap artists for The Chappelle Show musical portions, despite accolades from N.O.R.E for his ongoing devotion to Hip-Hop culture.
He said, refusing to mention the musicians that turned him down, “When I started Chappelle Show and I wanted to do music, I couldn’t get them to come on.” He did, however, note that the “ni**as that you know and love and I know and adore” were the artists who replied “no.” Chappelle said, “But in their defense, no one ever heard of the program, anything,” as though he had no ill will toward the accusers.
Kanye West’s previous participation on Drink Champs, during which he disparaged Black Star member Talib Kweli and his sense of style, was another subject that came up during the program. Chappelle, who claims to have been alongside Kweli when they initially heard Kanye’s remarks, applauded N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN for delivering such an entertaining interview while placing the podcast in a class of its own.
Chappelle remarked that “pop culture is a desert right now, and your show is an oddity.” “And that interview you did with Kanye West was one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen in modern pop culture. Sincerely. I don’t like Kanye, but I haven’t seen him that way in a while. It was humorous. It was interesting. Then this ni**a felt the need to attack Kweli’s headgear.
In the Netflix documentary Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, Yasiin Bey, whose early backing of Kanye was highlighted, discussed why he gave Yeezy the kind of praise he did at the time.
Regarding Kanye’s potential, Bey remarked, “It was pretty evident to me.” “I mean, where did it start?
Watch the clip from Dave Chappelle and Black Star’s Drink Champs episode below.
