Published on Oct 8, 1999
Adam Sandler is to blame for my latest purchase. Had he not been
hosting a special featuring certain comedy music videos, I never
would have been exposed to Chris Rock and his parody of
“Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen),””No Sex.” After seeing that
video just one time, I felt I had to go out and buy Rock’s latest
album,
Bigger & Blacker.
While this is definitely an album that has to grow on you, Rock
does prove himself to be a clever comedian with a sharp sense of
humor about both the black and the white community. Even the
sketches, for the most part, are sharp enough to keep my interest
throughout.
First, though, the criticisms. The three brief interludes
featuring “words of wisdom” from rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard seem
incredibly out of place, and I question why they’re even included
on this. And one routine, “Table Dance,” seems like it never finds
its rhythm. Making matters worse is tacking on the similarly themed
“Snow Flake” (a parody of The Rolling Stones’s “Brown Sugar”),
which beats what’s left of the joke to death.
Staying on the subject of sketch comedy, Rock’s “interview” with
Monica Lewinsky (featuring snippets from rapper Lil’ Kim) is funny,
though when my kid is in her twenties, she’s going to probably
wonder who Lewinsky was. “Nerd & Fly Girl” is pretty funny,
though it sometimes sounds like Rock got his idea for the nerd from
Digital Underground’s Humpty Hump; I kept expecting him to break
out in rhyme. “Porno PSA” is absolutely hilarious, especially when
you listen to Rock’s asides during the sketch. And, of course,
there’s “No Sex” — which, I’ll admit, loses a little bit without
the visual translations. (If the video for this song exists on any
of Rock’s home videos, chances are I’ll be running out to buy
it.)
As for the live performances of Rock, at first I was a bit put
off at the lower-quality recording of the sets. However, things
seem to even themselves out quickly, and Rock proves he is one of
the best comedians out there today. Sounding like a cross between
Mr. Paul Mooney and the late Sam Kinison, Rock goes off on
insurance companies, women, taxes and the White House sex scandal,
handling all with amazing agility. Rock might have been one of the
more underappreciated members of
Saturday Night Live, but he’s definitely making a solid name
for himself — and rightfully so.
Bigger & Blacker is a disc that will have you laughing
your head off, no matter what the color of your skin is. Rock is
able to take situations facing everyone and turn them into events
that will have you laughing — and thinking about what he’s
said.