Dave Chappelle is slowly making his return into the spotlight. And for his first interview in a decade, he chopped it up with GQ for his cover story in their 2014 Men of the Year issue. Also, Wale nabbed the cover of Complex magazine with Jerry Seinfield. Peep their covers inside….
Who knew Dave Chappelle cleaned up so nicely? We didn’t, but were totally feeling his dapper grown man cover. Dave Chappelle has nabbed a spot on GQ’s 2014 Men of the Year and he is also featured on one of the six alternative December covers for the annual list of celebrities who set the tone in 2014 (including NFL free agent Michael Sam).
After leaving the limelight during the height of his career, funnyman Dave Chappelle is slowly returning to the spotlight. And this go round, Dave is making it a priority to do things his way.
The comedic genius was riding the waves of success with his hit Comedy Central series, "Chappelle's Show" in 2005. But, Dave abruptly left the limelight and went into (what appeared to be) seclusion and damn near vanished from the Hollywood scene.
Now, the stand-up comic is making a comeback. But don’t call it a comeback because Dave surely isn’t. This summer, Dave performed ten sold-out shows at Radio City in NYC…and get this, each show sold-out in a matter of hours. Clearly proving his fans are still riding with him and just can’t get enough of funny stories from the stage. He told GQ,
“I mean, I've been out here doing comedy the whole time. But if certain people don't see you, it's not that you don't exist, it's just that they haven't seen you. People are always like, ‘I heard you moved to Africa.’ And in reality I was only there for about two weeks.”
These days, Dave seems to be enjoying being back in his natural element. He dished,
I think that's probably my natural disposition. Obviously, in some situations or places, I'll be way more guarded. But I feel good this week. I had a nice week at home. I've been on the road nine out of the last twelve months this year, which was the most I've done in years, so I'm more accustomed to being around people. You know, for a while, I was kind of sequestered. Well, sequestered is not the right word. It was more like Superman's self-imposed exile.
Like most us, Dave has a bucket list, but his list is geared towards what he would like to accomplish with his career. He talked about his full-circle moment performing at Radio City in which he said,
“I have a show-business bucket list. There’s just certain things that every entertainer always dreamed of doing. When I was 19, I used to walk up Sixth Avenue and look at the marquee of Radio City. I’d see the lines outside. I’d be like ‘Man, I just want to…Radio City!’…It just so happened the venue was open during the same time frame I was willing to play.”
So what does Dave dream of accomplishing now?
“For one year, I want to do this thing where I guest-star on as many television shows as I possibly can,” he explains. “I’d be a zombie on The Walking Dead. A corpse on CSI. I’d be the first black guy to f*ck Olivia Pope on Scandal…”
Well alright. Read the rest of Dave's here.
GQ’s 2014 Men of the Year December issue is available on newsstands now in NYC & L.A. and will be available nationally November 25th.
On another magazine cover....
A seemingly unlikely pair covers the December 2014 issue of COMPLEX magazine. But, D.C. rapper Wale (rocking a pair of $2,000 “What the Dunk” Nike SBs) and comedian/actor Jerry Seinfield may have more in common than you may think.
Wale and Jerry’s relationship blossomed after the MMG rapper took inspiration from episode titles and samples of Jerry’s show for his 2008 mixtape, The Mixtape About Nothing. Eventually, Jerry heard Wale’s musical offering and felt he just had to meet him. So he did and from there, the two formed a professional and personal relationship.
The odd pair talked about working together on Wale’s upcoming album titled, The Album About Nothing and now their meetings have turned into reality. Jerry is featured on Wale’s album as a narrator, with spoken-word segments that help narrate the basis of the tracks.
Now, the two are taking their friendship to the magazine circuit and they have included a very funny skit. Wale and Jerry dished to Complex about social media trolls, strippers, his infamous rant over Complex not including his album on the 50 Best Albums of 2013, sneakers, fame and more.
Below are a few highlights from their joint interview:
What’s tougher to deal with: Twitter hecklers or real-life hecklers on stage?
W: Are you familiar with Twitter hecklers?
JS: Oh, yeah.
Do you read your Twitter mentions and look at hate?
JS: Yeah. It has no substance for me. It’s like when somebody has a cigarette and they blow the smoke in your face. It’s going to be gone in two seconds. I don’t care. [Looks at Wale.] Oh, he’s upset. [Laughs.]
W: I handle it differently. It’s different!
JS: Why do you give these people meaning?
W: I don’t know, Jerry. I don’t know.
JS: You don’t have to! It’s your choice.
W: I try to rationalize with people. Like, “Why do you feel this way?”
JS: Who cares!?
W: I don’t know. Nine times out of 10, when I respond, I just want to find out what’s the root of it. Somebody says, “If I f*ck with him, he’s gonna react.” What then? Did you win any money? Did your life become better? Why would you do that? Why is this entertaining to you? I just don’t understand why.
JS: Yeah, well I have a terrace at my apartment and it’s fantastic. You have to come see it sometime. Every time I go out on that terrace I think, Maybe I’ll jump. [Wale laughs.] Because if I jump, the list of things I don’t have to do is so long, the issues I don’t have to deal with. All I have to do is jump and everything is taken care of! Now, I don’t jump. But I don’t care to know why I want to jump. What’s the difference why? The mind is not that great.When’s the last time you were in a strip club, Jerry?
JS: A bachelor party in the mid-’90s. I went reluctantly. You know, you go there and it’s just...you know.
W: It’s not all it’s cracked up to be sometimes.
JS: It’s exactly what it’s cracked up to be. It’s just not cracked up that high.
W: Well, Magic City is an experience.
JS: Is that in Atlanta? I don’t know what that is. But I know what girls are.
W: Yeah. Never say never. You have social gatherings at Magic City. Chicken socials and shit like that. You just go there with your friends. It’s different. I’ve done interviews at Magic City.
JS: I know what you’re saying. I understand chicken and naked women.
W: Can’t beat that.
JS: I’d actually rather just have the chicken. I can’t eat chicken and look at strippers at the same time.
W: It’s an acquired taste. Literally.Wale has had a rough relationship with COMPLEX. Have you heard the phone call he made to us last December?
JS: I love it. That was good entertainment.
W: It’s all an angle. I learned that from wrestling. It’s just like a story. My devious plot.
JS: All good entertainment.
W: [Laughs.] Well, at the moment it wasn’t entertainment.
JS: I know, but that’s what makes it good. I enjoyed it. I was laughing so hard.
W: I got burned for that, though.
JS: You did?!
W: Yeah, a lot of people called me on that.
JS: Why?
W: Because it’s not good to call and yell at people and be like that.
JS: I disagree. That was fun for everyone involved. Even the guy on the phone, look at the story he got. You filled in a lot of air with that.
W: It wasn’t fun for me, though. It’s good now to laugh at it.
JS: Well then, it’s good! All good entertainment starts with a painful moment. And if you’re an artist you can take that pain and do something.
W: I learned from it. Although I wasn’t happy with certain things in my career, I checked some things in myself. It’s rough to try to act like this doesn’t affect me, so when things happen, why not let people know it’s affecting me and move on with my life? I’m more open with how I feel, like, “I don’t like this, but it’s not the end of the world, let’s keep moving.” I don’t think it’ll happen again.
JS: No, I don’t think it will. It’d be tough to beat. If it happened again you’d have to be even angrier.
W: I bowed out. One and done.
JS: It’s a good one, though. It was a classic.
Jerry, you dismiss the burden of celebrity. Wale does not. What advice would you give him to help him deal with it?
JS: This is why the universe put us together. I am here to relieve you of this burden.
W: I’m listening. I would love to hear this part.
JS: It’s just a choice.
W: I don’t understand the world’s fascination with celebrity. My admiration for people like you or Jay Z is because of your talent. Now, people are famous without having talent.
JS: There’s a fame need. We need people to look at or talk about to just fill the time. They say life is too short. It’s way too long! And we’re filling it in with a lot of fake stuff. Like wrestling. Like stars who have no talent!
Interesting sneaker choice, going with the Huaraches today, Jerry. Internet rumors say you have more than 500 pairs of sneakers.
Jerry Seinfeld: Nobody has 500 of anything.
Wale: I beg to differ.
JS: You have 500 sneakers?
W: Yeah. [Laughs.]
JS: Well, I never had that many.
W: I’ve lost 500 sneakers. I have two sneaker rooms, one in L.A. and one in Jersey. And I have what is essentially a sneaker room in my mother’s house.
JS: Why is it so important? To feel right?
W: I don’t know. White shoes make me happy. Remember? There’s a song on the album called “White Shoes.” On it, Jerry says he was wearing white shoes and a lady stopped him on the street and asked him why he liked white shoes. He said, “I don’t know. They make me happy.” The idea for the record was to call it “White Shoes” because, where we come from, it’s such a vanity thing. That’s the first thing a woman would notice on you, the shoes.
JS: They say you judge a man by his wife, his car, and his shoes. Those three things will tell you everything you need to know him. I got into white sneakers because of Billy “White Shoes” Johnson and Joe Namath. Those were the two guys wearing white in the NFL. All of a sudden, the game had a lot more flair.
Ha!
Peep their "guy chats" over lunch about Twitter trolls, strippers and fame below:
Photos: Ben Watts/GQ/Chris Buck
