About

Whoa Calm Down Jamal, Don't Pull Out The 9 is a memorable line of dialogue spoken in a viral YouTube comedy video showing the differences between Black and white sitcom theme songs. A clip of the audio went viral as an original sound on TikTok in September 2020, leading to a trend on the platform repurposing the dialogue.

Origin

On December 21st, 2017, YouTuber^[1] RDCworld1, known for comedy videos and skits, uploaded a video titled, "BLACK SITCOM THEMES VS WHITE SITCOM THEMES" (shown below). The video consists of a number of recreations of theme songs from "Black sitcoms" and "white sitcoms," strung together with a skit about an argument between a group of Black people and a group of racist white people on a basketball court (with the white people played by Black actors in exaggerated costumes). At the 00:40 second mark, one of the "white" people taunts one of the Black people saying, "Whoa calm down Jamal, don't pull out the 9," the "9" referring to a 9mm gun. The video gained over 8.6 million views in three years.

In early September, TikToker^[6] @itsnotay_ uploaded an unknown, now-removed video set to an original sound that starts with DJ Khaled's "Wild Thoughts"^[3] followed by a beat of silence, then the RDCworld1video audio clip saying, "Whoa, calm down Jamal, don't pull out the 9," followed by the group laughing and finally a dramatic drum sound and another string of silence.

On September 6th, 2020, TikToker^[7] @h.fazo uploaded a comedy skit set to the sound depicting an encounter with a police officer gone wrong in which the officer points his weapon at the TikToker while lip dubbing to the "calm down Jamal" line, garnering over 6.6 million views in six months (shown below). This is one of the earliest videos following the trend.

Spread

The sound quickly took off on TikTok as users uploaded their own skits playing out comedic, usually hostile fictional interactions where a celebrity or other figure tries to threaten the TikToker. Many of these videos look to criticize or make fun of the subject, while others are meant to show someone who's gone through a glow up.

For example, on September 9th, 2020, TikToker^[7] @danimonstah uploaded a skit following the format of the trend in which he encounters accused predator Tony Lopez with a young girl, garnering over 12 million views in five months (shown below).

By March 2nd, 2021, @itsnotay_'s sound has been used in over 102,000 videos, making it the most popular variation of the sound on the platform (popular examples shown below).^[8][9]

On September 10th, TikToker^[2] @iishxtmyself uploaded a skit depicting a comedic fictional encounter between herself, Bryce Hall, and Addison Rae, set to her own version of the sound, including an additional use of the "calm down Jamal" line at the end. The video gained over 804,000 views in five months. Her version of the original sound has been used over 3,600 times in roughly six months.

On September 13th, TikToker^[10] @ashunaustin uploaded a video following the same format set to another original version of the sound, garnering over 384,000 views in five months (shown below, right). His version of the sound has since been used in over 1,700 videos on TikTok.

On October 2nd, TikToker^[5] @jakefellman uploaded an Among Us themed video set to @itsnotay_'s version of the sound, garnering over 958,000 views in five months. Fellman uploaded the video to his YouTube^[4] on October 7th, garnering over 28 million views in a comparable span of time (shown below).

On the same day, YouTuber^[12] Nutshell Animations uploaded an original animation using a version of the sound, garnering over 180,000 views in five months (shown below).

On February 8th, 2021, Redditor /u/LordNathan777 made a post to /r/teenagers^[11] titled, "Woah calm down Jamal, don’t pull out the nine" along with a SpongeBob meme, garnering over 1,100 upvotes and showing evidence of the line of dialogue spreading as a catchphrase.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References