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Dave Chappelle's Block Party  Hear it Now

RS: 3of 5 Stars Average User Rating: 4of 5 Stars

2006

This soundtrack to Dave Chappelle's documentary about a 2004 concert in Brooklyn plays like a greatest-hits of neosoul and mama-friendly hip-hop from the past decade, with open-armed performances from luminaries like Common, Mos Def and Erykah Badu. Even with snippets of Chappelle's recruitment phone calls to the artists tacked onto each cut, the disc feels short at only twelve tracks, but the execution is mostly solid: On "Golden," Jill Scott breezes through elastic croons, jazzy scats and poetry-slam wisdom over warm funk from a crack live band, and Dead Prez rhyme with brawny command and studio clarity on the opening "Hip-Hop." Compared with the film's offhandedly captivating mix of music, behind-the-scenes footage and comedy bits, the CD feels too polite -- it could have used more block-rocking moments like "Boom," on which the Roots work up some urban-jungle mayhem with huge assists from Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap.

CHRISTIAN HOARD

(Posted: Mar 21, 2006)

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