Have you guys seen Cribs?

[thisDude]

So I'm watching Cribs on MTV and some of those houses are unreal. But when I see some no-name rapper on Cash-Money records with Bentley's, Rolls', Benz's in a 2 milliom dollar house, I'm thinking "short-term lease" or "rented". Shouldn't they check this stuff out before they air it?

[Philip OKeefe]

I've noticed that too. It's all about the "image". I don't know who some of these people think they're fooling... I guess the general myth about the Biz is still popular - "get a gold record and you're set for life", when the reality is "get a gold record and you still owe a ton of recoupables". Some friends of mine deliberately parodied it when they were on Cribs... they didn't show their new houses, but a simple tract house belonging to the grandparents of the drummer... and yes, he actually lived there, but he's got a new home now. But they really played it up... the guys were all wearing smoking jackets, they showed off the "pool" (a plastic kiddie pool in the barren, unlandscaped backyard), etc. :D BTW, this band is pushing 4 mil in sales worldwide. They're definitely NOT millionares.

[thisDude]

Dude, you're killing me... Drop me a hint. :D

[aliengroover]

You know, I can't stand the "Cash Money Millionaires" one bit, and I can't vouch for the houses...but I do know that they're making more money on a platinum record than most artists are. The same and then some with Master P. If you doubt whether or not he makes huge money, just check Forbes Magazine. See, with both of these "crews", they sold, literally, hundreds of thousands of records on their own. So when they were approached by Univeral (Cash Money) and Priority (No Limit) they were able to strike up pretty impressive P&D deals. Master Ps deal was even more lucrative as he was only willing to give up something like 20%. He basically said, "why should I give you more when I'm doing pretty good on my own?" I think he gives up even less now. The Point is...some artists are just "fronting" on Cribs. But if you watch enough of them, the majority are living somewhere in the neighborhood of what we can estimate that they make. I would suspect Gene Simmons would live in a beautiful house as he does, that Natalie Raitano (from VIP) would have a fair little ditty, and rapper Redman would live in a normal little shack whose doorbell is messed up. Peace

[Super 8]

[quote]Originally posted by thisDude: [b]So I'm watching Cribs on MTV and some of those houses are unreal. Shouldn't they check this stuff out before they air it?[/b][/quote]Well the show has certainly done it's share to foster gluttony, greed, and envy. It's hard for me to watch it. I get suckered too easily into materialism. I agree with Phil. Sure they might be selling alot of records, but too many of them are probably 1 month away from foreclosure as well. As far as MTV checking this stuff out before airing it, I don't think MTV has any compelling reason to do that. The show is about excess. It's about living that dream lifestyle, where you can do or have whatever, and whomever you want. There is no responsibility. There is no accountability. And -at least the way MTV presents it- there is no downside. It's really upsetting to think of the targeted age group that are having their concept of reality skewed by MTV. It pisses me off. I really hope that these kids are more intelligent than MTV thinks they are.

[KenElevenShadows]

I think this show could be really interesting if they have interesting people in it. I agree, if someone's just flaunting their money, that's not terribly interesting. If someone is doing something really interesting with their living space, decorating it in a really unique manner to suit their lifestyle and aesthetic, then that would be far more interesting. I think "Meet the Osbournes" grew out of this, didn't it?

[Brakka]

They should do Master Zap's crib.

[gtrmac]

More propaganda supporting the premise that crappy lowest common denominator music is the key to happiness. Quite sad.