Dylan Dilinjah of Making The Band believes that the Dave Chappelle skit poking fun at the MTV reality show back in the day tanked his career before it could even get started.
That’s the claim he’s made on the latest episode of We Are Flatbush, which dropped on Friday (March 1), where he affirmed that the cult classic sketch from season 2 of Chappelle’s Show all but cancelled him nearly out the gate.
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After listing the ways in which he’s been able to capitalize on the joke in recent years — from a 2021 craft beer release to an online radio show — the Brooklyn native explained that he had no choice but to do so.
“I had to do that,” he stated, “because they said, ‘Dylan is top 5, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan.’ These are words that I never said; I never created. I never put this out. I had to trademark it and go through fights to trademark it. But David made this up, he’s a genius. I never said that. So I have no control at all.”
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He continued: “Any time I send my music to DJs, they say, ‘oh, that’s the n-gga that Dave Chappelle made fun of, nah, I’m good on that. Not only that, but now, every promoter says, ‘nah, we’re not booking him.’ So now I have a newborn, and the fridge is empty in 2005, and no one is calling me. Everyone is laughing.
“I’m legend now! But [back then] I’m fucked up for what you just did. And you’re not answering the phone. At that time, no one picking up they phone. Not one label; and at that time, you had to sign to a record label. And I called all of them direct. And they said, ‘I can’t help you.’ That joke gone, boy. That joke took over. That joke actually burned your career. That joke burned it.”
Dilinjah’s claims however, are in stark contrast to what actually happened throughout recorded history, which proves that both he and Chappelle have a bit of a mutual admiration for each other.
In a 2014, Dilinjah spoke to Uproxx about Chappelle’s impression and what happened after it aired, insinuating that it had led to some professional opportunities.
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“You take a joke and everyone’s cracking on you,” he said. “But the next question is, ‘What is he up to? What kind of music does he have? Can we book him?’”
Despite telling We Are Flatbush that they met in 2018, Dylan Dilinjah actually crossed paths with the comedy legend at a House of Vans event in New York a year earlier.
While speaking to Dilinjah at the House of Vans, Chappelle said, “Dylan, Dylan, Dylan … yo, I fuck with you bro,” to which the former reality star replied, “Yo, thank you man … you made me famous [laughs].”
The parody is easily one of Chappelle’s most celebrated skits. And while Dilinjah claims not to have ever uttered the words from the often-quoted impression, fans responding to a viral re-share of the We Are Flatbush clip on TheReelTeaTV‘s Instagram page seem to remember otherwise.
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“But the character was based off of how you acted on the show Dylan. [squinting emoji] Sir, please,” wrote one user. “He gave him the opportunity to be in the skit and he declined,” another remarked.
While most of Da Band members had faded into relative obscurity by the time the skit arrived, the Grenadian rapper continued to release music and reportedly landed a deal with Akon’s Kon Live label.
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He also released an album titled Pain 2 Power in 2014.
