"It was a hell of a party," Dayton.com Music Insider Libby Ballengee told this news organization.
Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images
Ballengee and her husband, Mitch Miley, were among those lucky enough to snag tickets to Dave Chappelle's sold-out Juke Joint Sunday, April 21.
Rapper and actor T.I. performed and actor Aziz Ansari was among the comedians Chappelle called to the stage near the end of the event at Whitehall Farms in the Tecumseh Land Trust, Ballengee said.
Credit: Dominik Magdziak
Credit: Dominik Magdziak
Hip-hop stars Talib Kweli of Black Star fame and Kardinal Offishall were also spotted Sunday, according to guests.
Like the night before, the party included a special tribute to Prince, who died April 21, 2016.
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Purple Rain was among the last songs played, Ballengee said.
Saturday Night Live's Michael Che, jazz musician Robert Glasper and comedian Michelle Wolf were among those who stuck around for the second night's show.
>> Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle share memories of Prince in Yellow Springs
Celebrities spotted Saturday also included superstar comic Chris Rock, who led a sing-a-along with Chappelle, A Tribe Called Quest member Jarobi White, Dave (Trugoy the Dove) from De La Soul, actress Megalyn Echikunwoke, Bobby Z from Prince's Revolution and rapper David Banner.
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ARTISTIC ENERGY
Ballengee said she was blown away by the music orchestrated by Frederic Yonnet, Prince's former harmonica player and a Juke Joint mainstay.
Credit: Tyler Kaufman
Credit: Tyler Kaufman
The electrifying French musician led the Band with No Name effortlessly as it had the night before, said Ballengee, who was particularly impressed with Glasper.
“We were like ‘wow, I can’t believe what we just saw’,” said Ballengee, a host of the Gem City Podcast.
>> RELATED: Dave Chappelle’s 2019 Juke Joint sells out again
Ballengee said that Chappelle’s love of comedy and music was on display at the party that included elements of blues, hip-hop, rock, reggae and other musical forms.
“It is all very inclusive and diverse,” she said of Juke Joint. He (Chappelle) has got great energy and gets everyone hyped.”
Dayton poet Lucy "Sierra Leone" Owens said the artistic energy at Juke Joint is among its greatest draws.
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“It really recognizes what it is like to be in the presence of good stewards of energy” said Owens, one of three Dayton winners of Ohio’s 2018 Governor’s Awards. “It was beautiful. Absolutely magical.”
T.I. IN YELLOW SPRINGS
She said she was particularly happy to see T.I. in Ohio for a positive reason.
The "Whatever You Like" singer testified in the 2008 Cincinnati murder trial of Hosea Thomas.
Thomas was sentenced to 66 years in prison in the shooting death of T.I.'s friend Philant Johnson following a T.I. show in Cincinnati.
“It was pretty amazing to see T.I. in Ohio and to see him at the Juke Joint,” she said.
Owens attended Dave Chappelle’s Juke Joint with her husband and educator and playwright
Robert Owens on Sunday and for a short time with friends on Saturday.
>>RELATED: Dayton’s Owens’ family on ‘The Briefcase’ Wednesday
She said humanity was on display both nights, and she wrote poetry.
“It is really an opportunity for people to hang out with people they know and love,” Owens said. “It is going to a barn and having a good time with some people who may be famous and some people who are not.”
Credit: Maury Phillips
Credit: Maury Phillips
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A Beavercreek resident who asked that her name not be used said she bought a Yellow Springs Boat Show beer for Che and offered a taco to T.I.
“He said he doesn't eat meat so I ate enough tacos for both (of us),” she said.
NO POSTING OR POSING
Cameras are barred and individual cell phones are stored in sealed pouches during the event.
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The Beavercreek resident said the policy allows party-goers to live in the moment without worrying about capturing the moment on their cell phones.
She also guessed there was a benefit for the celebrities in attendance.
“I bet it is amazing for the celebrities, no one bugging them for pictures and just being able to be normal,” she told this news organization via Facebook Messenger.
WHAT IS THE JUKE JOINT AND WHO HAS BEEN THERE?
Chappelle, a music lover, had his first Juke Joint barn party in Yellow Springs in 2015. He has since had similar bashes all around the country.
Amy Schumer, Jill Scott, Jarobi White, Doug E. Fresh, Hannibal Buress and Martin Luther McCoy were at the 2018 Juke Joint in Yellow Springs.
>>RELATED: Dave Chappelle on Yellow Springs: “I have time to think about things”
At the 2016 Juke Joint at the barn, local residents danced the house down with a list of celebs that included rappers Talib Kweli and Q-Tip, CBS News' Gayle King, actor Bradley Cooper, model/actress Naomi Campbell, comedian Donnell Rawlings and magician David Blaine.
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