- For the character associated with this quote, see Trollface.
Description[]
“U MAD?”, sometimes written as “you mad?” or “u mad bro?”, is a 2003 catchphrase meme that is often used in discussion threads to imply that someone is losing their temper during the course of an argument, and is often used to taunt or bait others into a flamewar. Due to the incendiary nature of the phrase, it is often considered a form of trolling and eventually became associated with Trollface.
Origin[]
In the context of hip hop music, the phrase “You mad, ‘cause [I’m better than you]” is a dissing technique that has its roots in freestyle battling and can be often heard on “diss tracks”.
The first image macro featured the Harlem-based rapper Cam’Ron pointing off camera with the captioned text “YOU MAD.” The image came from a segment on the Bill O’Reilly Show where Cam’Ron appeared in his interview with producer Damon Dash on November 2003.
Web usage[]
The first Urban Dictionary submission was created by user Johnny Twoguns on August 13th, 2004. A “u mad” YTMND page was created on September 25th, 2005. On the Body Building Forums, a thread titled ‘U Mad’ pictures was posted on June 20th, 2007.
The phrase is often used in discussions threads on 4chan to taunt other users, and an example of this can be seen in an archived 4chan thread from March 28th, 2011. Several Facebook groups exist referencing “u mad”, and a “u mad bro?” has 25,165 likes as of September 6th, 2011.
Event[]
High School Sign Controversy[]
On September 3rd, 2011, Fox 8 Cleveland reported on a group of high school students in Ohio that were accused of “racial intimidation” for displaying a “YOU MAD BRO” banner during a football game.
The article was subsequently posted to Reddit and Gawker on September 5th, 2011.
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