Source: Fairchild Archive / Getty
It’s been two decades since Cam’ron and Dame Dash went on the Bill O’Reilly show, which ultimately led to Killa Cam creating one of the internets most popular memes with his “You maaaad!” assertion before memes on social media were even a thing.
Now twenty years later, Cam’ron reflects on what led up to the moment and explained how the famous 2003 interview came about when he sat down for an interview with KFC Radio and its hosts, John Feitelberg and Kevin Clancy. Taking us back in time when Roc-A-Fella Records reigned supreme in the rap game and Dip Set was a few years into their contract with the Hip-Hop powerhouse label, Cam recalls how his publicist let him know that Bill O’Reilly was interested on having him on the show.
Taking any opportunity he could to get his voice out there, Kill agreed not knowing Bill’s ultra-conservative views on Hip-Hop music and his particular venomous views towards the culture. “They was like, ‘You want to go on Bill O’Reilly?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know who Bill O’ Reilly is. Who is that? Not really.’” Still, Cam was ready for primetime cable news interviews even if he wasn’t ready to deal with the likes of someone like Bill O’Reilly.
After he was informed of Bill’s history in the journalism field, Cam felt a bit more comfortable saying, “And now I’m just extra like ‘Okay, he’s an a**hole, so whatever, I’m ready for this. So basically, we get up there and the first thing he says is, ‘Cam’ron who’s known for rhyming about pimps and h*es… So I’m like, ‘Bet, it’s on!’ From the jump! And that’s how it all came about. Soon as he said ‘Cam’ron rapping about pimping b*tches,’ I said ‘Yeah, we gonna have a good time.'”
A good time indeed. For the culture anyway.
Luckily, Dame Dash was all too familiar with Bill O’Reilly’s form of right-wing “gotcha journalism” and was all too ready to return on the show that he felt ambushed him when he himself appeared on the show.
“So, I remember being in the office and Dame comes in the office like, ‘Yo, you going on Bill O’Reilly tomorrow?’ And I said ‘Yeah, I’m going tomorrow.’ And Dame says, ‘I don’t know if you’re ready by yourself, I’m going with you. No, I’m definitely going with you because you don’t know this type of guy.’”
What ensued was an entertaining back-and-forth between an old white man, who hid his perverted and misogynistic history that ultimately got him fired from Fox News, and two Black entrepreneurs that are still ballin’ to this day. Just sayin’.
Interestingly enough, Cam did tell O’Reilly during the interview, “I got dirt on you, doggy.” Did Cam hear rumblings about Bill O’Reilly’s disturbing history with the women who worked at the Fox News office before it became public? Inquiring minds want to know.
Check out some of the classic Cam’ron and Bill O’Reilly interview below and let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
