The Magic of Dave Chapelle’s Summer Camp
In early the early summer of the 2020 pandemic, I was going through it. My wife and I were both trying to work from home while raising an active toddler. It was still early on and we were only 3-4 months in and the fatigue was setting in. Cabin fever was in full effect, and quite frankly, I was having a tough time adjusting to the monotony. The 4 walls seemed to be closing in on me more every day and I was starting to feel like a different version of myself. I was trying to break out of the rut with projects around the house and some new creative endeavors, but something was off.
Around that time, a friend and musical collaborator reached out about going on a road trip to Yellow Springs, Ohio. He wasn’t super specific about the events details at first, but based on my social media sleuthing, I was able to surmise that he was inviting me to spend an extended weekend at Dave Chapelle’s Summer Camp.
So we went. We hopped in the SUV and drove up to Yellow Springs, Ohio. I had no idea what I was in for, but I wouldn’t have ever guessed that it would be one of the most memorable experiences of my entire life. Who knows, the way I was feeling before we left… Well, I won’t got there. I’ll just say it was time to escape.
If you’ve never been to Yellow Springs, I’ll put it like this. It’s the country country. Corn fields as far as the eye could see and a flat expanse that I immediately associate with Summer road trips to and from Detroit from Atlanta. We busted a hard left into a winding gravel road, parked between the rows of corn, stepped out of the car only just 20 feet from the mandatory On Site Covid Testing Facility to be greeted by none other than Donnell Rawlings and Darius Rucker. Yep… it was going to be that kind of weekend.
I could go on for days about the intricacies and details from the weekend, but in the interest of time, I’ll cut to the chase. Essentially, Dave Chapelle’s Summer Camp was an entertainer’s safe haven / bootcamp / incubator that gave the world’s top entertainers a place to cohabitate, communicate and collaborate without all of the bullshit noise caused by a world suffering through a pandemic. And to top it off, it was as intimate and personal as a collection of people could be. It was an intimate assembly of the world’s most influential entertainers doing very normal things.
It was an opportunity to see that despite all of the mess going on around us, that the people I have put on some sort of creative pedestal, well… they’re exactly who I thought they would be. Giving, thoughtful, considerate, and generous. Egos and attitude… there wasn’t any time for that shit. People were here to vibe out and build, and that’s exactly what we did.
In the mix of the normalcy, however, there were professionals sharpening their tools. Comedians were practicing their sets and refining their delivery and cadence. Musicians were in the studio with their teams and putting the finishing touches on the things that they were preparing to offer the world. But it all seemed to make perfect sense that it was happening in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The noise of the chaos happening around us seemed to be silenced if even just for a few days. From the passerby, this was probably the least obvious place for these people to assemble. But it happened and was a very uniquely special moment in time. Simply giving a people a place to feel normal again changed my life and reminded me how critical it is to have a rock solid community, floods of inspiration, and dreams to pursue.
Again, I would like to thank Dave Chapelle and the entire cast of characters for the generosity, humility, and intentionality that went into this. I know I’m not alone when I say that a sliver of normalcy in the midst of a world on fire, that hit the spot and gave me a renewed confidence in what was ahead. The real leaders are out here leading and putting in the time and effort that it takes to prep the soul food that we’re all desperately looking for right now.
Stay Tuned.
