The "David Chappelle's Block Party" playlist

I finally saw "David Chappelle's Block Party" last weekend in my brother over the weekend. Personally I think its brilliant. There have been a couple of comparisons to 'Wattstax' in a some of the reviews I have read so far. To me they are more than apt. This is by far the closest thing I've seen to that movie ever. I'd review it, but far smarter and more eloquent people have already done that in several places online. My favourite so far is the Boston Globe review. I am simply going to talk about the music.

Now if you are one of those people who has made up their minds to treat all hip-hop music as violent, angry, nihlistic, misogynistic musoc with little if anyredeeming social value then you will not get what made the music so great. If you aren't, you might have heard of some of the people who played, or at least you should have. That concert basically got together some of the best musicians alive today. People whose music has kept me company for literally thousands of hours over the last decade or so. At the very least you might want to open up your minds and grab the soundtrack when it hits. I know I will.

Otherwise, these are the albums that I have been inspired to play this week.

The Roots: Things Fall Apart, Phrenology and The Tipping Point
Mos Def: Black on Both Sides
Takib Kweli: Train of Thought, Quality
Black Star: Black Star
Common: Like Water for Chocolate
Kanye West: The College Dropout
The Fugees: The Score
Dead Prez: Lets Get Free
Erykah Badu: Mama's Gun
Jill Scott: Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds, Vol. 1

Sidenote: While I'd personally love to see this movie get some Oscar recognition in the documentary category, I'll wager a small amount of money that it'll never happen.

Either way, good listening.