Kevin Hart Details How Dave Chappelle Humbled Him & Chris Rock With His Brilliance (Video)

When Kevin Hart and Sway get together, the conversation is always special. Their most recent conversation is no exception. There to promote his latest film, Central Intelligence, starring Duane “The Rock” Johnson, Hart was in rare form. As has often been the case, rather than use the platform to further showcase his comedic skills, Hart chose to clap back at critics, share life lessons and provide and in-depth analysis of his craft.

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The conversation begins seemingly innocuously with Sway prodding Hart about a recent social media exchange Hart had with a testy “fan.” In response to a woman who told Hart his fiancee was only with him because of his money, Hart told the woman matter-of-factly “I got [the money],” and further let her know that she had “tree bark hands. (1:30)” He went on to say, however, that he never responded to fans out of anger. “If anger has an effect on you, you lost already. I don’t respond to bullshit.” Expanding the statement to wars of words with peers, Kevin says “I’ll never get into the twitter beefs…I always take the high road, ‘cause those things live forever…It’s always going to be able to be pulled back up. It’s always going to be a reflection of who you are or who you were, so you don’t give people that ammunition. I’m always seven steps ahead. I’m not going to allow you to have things that come back and bite me in the ass (4:30).”

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Seemingly continuing his dialogue with the fan who questioned the basis of his romantic relationship, Kevin shares his philosophy on what really draws people to one another. “You wanna know what’s attractive?,” he asks (6:00). It’s not success. It’s the road to success. You wanna know what can really turn a woman on? Power. Not just having it. It’s obtaining it. How did you get it? That’s what people don’t look at. When you look at a business man, ask yourself how he got that business? So, before you look at the woman around him and say ‘Aww. I don’t get it,’ ask yourself how he got it. That’s what’s attractive. It’s a mind, it’s a brain, it’s a mindset. Say nothing else, my woman is fucked mentally by what I do. You can call me small. You can say ‘Kevin is x, y and z.’ Kevin Hart is a man. I’m a man. I have a foundation. She’s secure.”

Dialing back for a bit of levity, Sway prompts an appearance of Chocolate Droppa, Hart’s comedic rap persona, and Kevin obliges by kicking a “freestyle” over The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Machine Gun Funk.” During this part of the interview, Hart also handles the business of promoting his movie, discussing his chemistry with The Rock, the strategy behind their working together, and the premise of the film. He also reveals that they already have another project in the works, a re-make of Jumanji, also starring Jack Black.

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Even in promoting the film, Kevin drops philosophical jewels about bullying, and it prompts Sway to ask the comedian who imparts life lessons to him. Without hesitation, Hart responds “My mom. She understood the importance of reinforcement, and I think that’s what parents of our generation really need to do. As a father, my kids are told on a daily basis how amazing they are and how amazing they can be. My daughter’s told how beautiful she is every single day. My son is told ‘You’re handsome. Boy, what are you gonna do? What’s the plan today? Everyday, you gotta break down something to me.’ Communication is so key, because a kid understands that and it’s branded. It was branded in my head at a young age that you get out of things what you put into it. Also, we don’t start stuff that we’re not going to finish…whatever I had a passion for, I always gave it 110%. So, now when I look at my career, it’s no coincidence that I work the way that I work because this mindset was branded at a young age (16:30).”

As they wrap up the conversation, Sway has Hart play a game where he is forced to draw two comedians’ names out of a bag and declare which of the two he thinks is better. Rather than simply give a name and move on, Hart takes the opportunity to give an in-depth assessment of each comedian he mentions. The first name he draws is Dave Chappelle, and Hart’s analysis of Chappelle is priceless (20:45). “Dave Chappelle, if you ask any comedian that has a real understanding, a knowledge of stand-up comedy, people will probably say ‘Dave is the best pound for pound, and that’s including everybody. This is one of the most creative guys on the planet, and when it comes to breaking down a joke, and making a joke within a joke within a joke, Dave Chappelle does it like nobody else. It’s a science. True story: me and Chris Rock watched Dave Chappelle at the Comedy Cellar. Me and Chris Rock went up already. I call Chris ‘Hey Chris, come down. I got some material. I want you to look at it.’ Chris said ‘Alright. Me, too. I’ma come down. I’ll watch you. You watch me. Let’s punch each other up.’ I watch Chris after he watched me. We talkin’ about our sets. Dave Chappelle comes in randomly. Dave Chappelle goes up. Me and Chris watch Dave Chappelle. Swear to God, we took our material, balled it up and was like ‘what the fuck are we talkin’ about?!’ We were so pissed off with our level of thinking. And Dave Chappelle, he was fuckin’ around. [Mimics Chappelle,] ’Shit, man,’ but he’s that good.”