‘I’m Rick James, bitch’
‘Chappelle’s Show’, 2004
No article about Dave Chappelle would be complete without those four words – they’ve been a gift and a curse for the 41-year-old comic. ‘True Hollywood Stories: Rick James’ is probably the most famous skit from ‘Chappelle’s Show’ – the Comedy Central sketch series that made his name (literally). It features cast member Charlie Murphy (brother of Eddie) describing his strange encounter with the ‘Super Freak’ singer, played by Chappelle, who constantly boasts that he’s ‘Rick James, bitch!’ When it originally aired Facebook had just been launched, the sketch went viral before that was a thing, and wherever Chappelle went came an echo of ‘Rick James, bitch!’ heckles. If you’re seeing Chappelle this week, don’t yell it out, okay?