Conductor We Have A Problem! — Hand pressing a red glowing emergency intercom button on a subway car panel marked EMERGENCY and CAR# 518.

Conductor We Have A Problem!

2015viral videosemi-active

Published October 20, 2026

"Conductor We Have A Problem!" is a 2015 YouTube clip of Washington D.C. Metro rider Steve Clark hammering the emergency call button and shouting the phrase after he said another passenger pretended to reach for a gun. The audio outlived its viral window as producer Conductor Williams's signature tag, with two appearances on Westside Gunn's 2021 double-LP "Hitler Wears Hermes 8."

catchphrase memes audio memes hip hop memes street footage memes accidental fame memes

Overview

Clark's panicked shout, with its clipped repetition and the complete absence of any conductor response, is the core of the joke1. YouTube remixers lay the audio over unrelated footage, including a widely watched edit that sets the yelling over a scene from The Polar Express8. The original video is also cited for its chaos: Clark grows more frantic while other riders try to calm him down, and one man eventually steps off the train with Clark's phone1.

In hip-hop, producer Conductor Williams uses the "conductor we have a problem" line as his tag at the top of his beats, giving Clark's voice an afterlife outside meme comment sections3. On Westside Gunn's 2021 "Hitler Wears Hermes 8," the tag shows up on the Side A cut "Blessed Times"3 and the Side B track "Munch"4.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (viral spread on 4chan)
Creator
Steve Clark
Date
2015

On December 10, 2015, YouTube user S t e v e Calaark (Steve Clark) uploaded a video titled "See something Say something does no good. DC Metro"2. The POV footage, shot on a Yellow line train heading toward L'Enfant Plaza, shows Clark repeatedly pressing the emergency call box and yelling the phrase after he said a passenger in a yellow Whole Foods shirt reached for a gun1. No conductor ever answered.

STATter 911 covered the clip on December 11, 2015, citing a Metro spokesperson who told WUSA9 that transit police met Clark at the next station, interviewed him, and reported no actual threat and no injuries1. KYM's own write-up later traced the pipeline from Metro car to meme audio to rap producer tag5.

How It Spread

On December 30, 2015, an anonymous poster shared the video on 4chan's /pol/ board under the title "Liberal's reaction to seeing a gun," drawing over 328 replies6. YouTube accounts followed with their own edits. Diogo Castro uploaded a remix on January 9, 2016 that gained over 59,000 views7, and Mediocre Memes laid the clip's audio over footage from The Polar Express for an edit with over 112,000 views8.

The audio got a second life through music. Producer Conductor Williams uses the "conductor we have a problem" shout as his producer tag, and the sample appears twice on Westside Gunn's 2021 double-LP "Hitler Wears Hermes 8": on the Side A song "Blessed Times"3 and the Side B song "Munch"4. By 2021, the line was reaching listeners who had no connection to the 2015 Metro clip at all5.

Timeline

2015-12-10

Steve Clark uploads "See something Say something does no good. DC Metro" to YouTube.

2015-12-11

STATter 911 covers the clip, citing a Metro spokesperson who said transit police found no actual threat.

2015-12-30

An anonymous 4chan /pol/ user reposts the video as "Liberal's reaction to seeing a gun," drawing over 328 replies.

2016-01-09

YouTuber Diogo Castro uploads a remix that later tallies over 59,000 views.

2021

Producer Conductor Williams uses the "conductor we have a problem" audio as his tag on two tracks of Westside Gunn's "Hitler Wears Hermes 8."

How to Use This Meme

Video edits typically lay the "conductor we have a problem" audio over unrelated footage, often cartoons or film scenes, with the comedic weight coming from the mismatch between Clark's screaming and the calm visual on screen8. In music, producer Conductor Williams uses the full "conductor we have a problem" bark as a producer tag at the start of his beats, so hip-hop fans may hear the phrase before a song begins instead of inside a meme edit3.

Frequently Asked Questions