Jadakiss recently appeared on The Adam Friedland Show, where he was asked to divulge on his controversial "Why" lyrics about 9/11. The host asked him whether or not George W. Bush “knocked down the towers,” to which he laughed. "I don't know," he replied. Jadakiss went on to discuss backlash he received for the lyrics from Bill O’ Reilly, who called the song "an atrocity." “Coming from where I come from, once I rung O’Reilly’s bell, it was like a celebration,” he explained, “I was a little nervous, though. I felt like people was on me, Homeland Security was, like, behind me.” In the track, he asks "Why did Bush knock down the towers?"
The host then asks Jadakiss why he believes he was dubbed "Al-Qaeda-Jada" amid the controversy. "Just rhymes," the artist replied. In an interview after the 2004 song's release, he addressed the backlash he was receiving. He made it clear that he didn't actually believe Bush was behind the attacks on the World Trade Center, but claimed that he could have done more to prevent it. "Obviously it's only a metaphor," he explained.
Jadakiss Reflects On Backlash
"But on the same note," he continued, "I think that before 9/11 the intelligence agencies weren't communicating a lot of the important information. And ultimately, at the end of the day, he's the boss. The buck stops with him." Jadakiss also previously told Billboard that the former president had something to do with the attacks. "I just felt [Bush] had something to do with it. That's why I put it in there like that. A lot of my people felt he had something to do with it," he explained.
In the past, Jadakiss has defended the controversial lyrics, claiming that he managed to "reach the ears of white America." "I ain't done nothing that Michael Moore ain't done. Everybody ain't gonna like it," he explained, "but as long as they hear it, my job is done. I want them to hear it and think about it."