During asold-out showat San Francisco’s Chase Center that kicked off Dave Chappelle’s limited tour for his new documentary, “Untitled,” thousands of fans showed up to support the controversial comic in the wake of backlash from his Netflix special“The Closer.”
Those fans also included Bay Area music royalty, from singersRaphael Saadiqand Goapele to rappersE-40 and Too Short, who showed up onstage with Chappelle on Thursday, Nov. 4, as special guests for a post-screening concert.
In an exclusive interview with Too Short backstage after the four-hour show — which also included a cameo by Atlanta rapper Lil Jon, whom Chappelle famously impersonated in his sketch comedy series “Chappelle’s Show” — the Oakland rapper told The Chronicle, “I’ve studied Dave Chappelle’s comedy. … This is not that case of something so f—ing harmful, something so hateful that it needs to be silenced. This is not that case.”
As a hip-hop pioneer whosefavorite word is “biatch” and a discography of songs that include what some consider to be misogynistic, racist and violent lyrics and themes, Too Short sees parallels with Chappelle’s work.
“You can’t just be mean. I can’t be the character Too Short, and be mean,” he said, explaining that he and Chappelle’s words aren’t performed with malice. “It has to be some sort of wordplay, some sort of punch line. I have to be very specific in not pointing the finger at an individual when I’m being rude in the song.
“It’s as simple as me going, ‘All these bitches ain’t s—,’ and you’re like, ‘Oh, he’s talking about me? F— him.’ Or saying, ‘Those bitches over there ain’t s—,’ and now you’re singing with me going, ‘Those bitches over there ain’t s—.’ That’s strategic so that you don’t get mad because you’re the listener. We on the same team,” he continued. “It just works out if we deflect it somewhere else, and that’s how I write it. So go listen back to Too Short songs. It makes you laugh.”
Too Short specifically referenced his 1986 song “Blowjob Betty,” about a woman who chokes and dies during oral sex, and his 1990 hit “The Ghetto” that speaks to the struggles of growing up in a tough neighborhood in comparing how he and Chappellehave a balance of offensive and inspiring material. “If you just listen to the raunchiest song and the positive songs, you get a balance of who I am,” he said.
But the rapper, who plans to celebrate 35 years in the music industry by launching anew concert seriesat Midway SF on Thursday, Nov. 11, acknowledged that this era of cancel culture has changed how music and comedy are received.
“I just think that everybody’s opinion is so instantaneous on social media. … They’re like, ‘Oh my God, look what I just got on my camera. Look what I just heard,” posting without trying to understand the greater context, Too Short said.
And that’s why Too Short said he backs his longtime friend during his controversial periods.
He’s seen all six of Chappelle’s Netflix specials, recently watching “The Closer” alone, early one recent morning because, he said, “I tried to study just to find where it would make the LBGTQ world upset.”
“I tried to find it because it seemed to me like in the last special, he was literally saying to that community, ‘I f— with you like this.’ He spelled it out clearly, ‘I’m not against you,’ ” Too Short said.
The rapper added he truly felt that Chappelle’s statements have been twisted by his critics.
“我不能把自己放在没有菲人的鞋子lt like he was making fun of them or being disrespectful to them,” Too Short said, “but from my standpoint, I found that his explanations were clear as a bell. He’s stating loud and clear that ‘I’m not disrespecting you. I f— with all you.”
The sentiment is not shared by much of thetransgender communityand their allies, who fear that the popularity of Chappelle and “The Closer” could inspire violence against trans people.
“How can you try to say that this doesn’t help aid a climate of violence when we’ve had dozens of people who have been murdered in potentially anti-transgender killings this year?” asked Gwen Smith, co-founder of this month’s Transgender Day of Remembrance memorializing people who have been killed as a result of transphobia, in arecent interviewwith The Chronicle.
But as “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross said at the start of Thursday night’s event, “you have to take a joke in this world,” and Too Short fears that is what is getting lost in the social media frenzy around Chappelle.
“作为一个comedi的粉丝ans before cancel culture, when a comedian could stand on stage and f—ing disrespect the f— out of the crowd in the name of funny, and disrespect the f— out of things in life in the name of funny … I just found it funny,” Too Short said of “The Closer.”
“Comedians are supposed to embarrass us. They are supposed to shine light on our shortcomings.”