Dave Chappelle Arrives at ‘SNL’ in Tribe Called Quest Soundtracked Promo
Dave Chappelle will host the November 12 episode of Saturday Night Live — and the remaining members of the recently-reunited A Tribe Called Quest will be the musical guest. SNL shared a fitting promo on November 8, which showed Chappelle making his way to the show's 30 Rockefeller Center studio, soundtracked by the intro to Tribe's 1990 song "Can I Kick It?"
Chappelle recently made headlines for a standup set delivered on November 4 in New York City as reported in The Observer, in which he ripped Hillary Clinton and defended Donald Trump from media coverage of his remarks to Billy Bush in an unearthed Access Hollywood recording from 2005.
"Sexual assault? It wasn’t. He said, 'And when you’re a star, they let you do it.' That phrase implies consent. I just don’t like the way the media twisted that whole thing," Chappelle reportedly said.
Though he said he would vote for Hillary Clinton on November 8, he said, "She’s going to be on a coin someday. And her behavior has not been coin-worthy," he said. "She’s not right and we all know she’s not right."
Dave Chappelle's sketch show, Chappelle's Show, was an instant comedy classic upon its debut on Comedy Central in 2003, spawning several iconic skits (Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories, evil Wayne Brady, the Racial Draft) that are still referenced today. But co-creator and star Chappelle walked away from it all in the middle of Season 3 production. Sticking mostly to his standup comedy roots since then, outside of a small role in Spike Lee's Chi-Raq Chappelle hasn't stepped in front of a camera since around 2006. Is he returning to promote a surprise return to sketch comedy or, unlike most of the project or brand-promoting SNL hosts, is he just doing it for fun?
Chappelle recently threw some shade at former Key and Peele stars Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael Key during a set at NYC's Roots Picnic Festival, suggesting they wouldn't be on Comedy Central if it weren't for him paving the way (which, K&P's own merits notwithstanding, is fair).
"Put some respect on my name, y’all don’t know what I’ve been through…watching Key & Peele do my show the last five f---ing years," he joked.
Meanwhile, veteran Queens rap group A Tribe Called Quest will be promoting their recently-announced first album since 1998's The Love Movement. Group member Phife Dawg passed away at age 45 back in March when the album was not finished, but Q-Tip said in a note posted to Facebook that Phife "left us with the blueprint of what we had to do." The album will feature longtime collaborator Busta Rhymes, as well as Jack White, Kendrick Lamar and Elton John. We're banking on a cameo or two during their SNL appearance.
Catch Chappelle and Tribe on Saturday Night Live November 12; Tribe's We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service is set for release November 11.