New York, NY – Charlamagne Tha God has had plenty of tense interviews in his career, but one stands out above the rest. During an appearance on Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj’s, the Breakfast Club host picked Nelly as his most heated on-air confrontation with an artist.
“The most obvious answer would be the Birdman interview when he came in there with like six or seven guys and then all the goons filed out in a single file line, like they walked out in single file line,” Charlamagne said. “But actually, the most intense one where I was like, ‘Aight, this dude might knock my head off,’ was Nelly.”
He added, “You gotta think, Nelly is an athletic brother. He’s in shape, and he was very calm. And he just looked at me and he said to me, ‘You know I keep retainers for guys like you, cuz.’ I understand that talk.”
Charlamagne was asked why he received such a strong reaction from Nelly. The radio veteran recalled the situation, which involved a very blunt assessment of the diamond-selling rapper’s career at that time.
“It was him being cold,” Charlamagne explained. “I used to do this thing called ‘The Freezer.’ And I was like, ‘You’re ice cold right now as a recording artist.’ He was actually on the show. During the interview, I told him it was cold to his face.”
Charlamagne never issued an apology, but he did take heed of Nelly’s warning.
“I didn’t apologize, I just shut the hell up,” he noted. “You just gotta know when to shut the fuck up.”
Revisit the interview above.
