The History and Fakery of MTV CRIBS | Looking Back

In today's episode of Looking Back, we'll be discussing MTV Cribs. The long running series that gives viewers a firsthand look into the homes of various celebrities.

Cribs debuted its first episode on September 20th, 2000. The show aired during MTV's late-night block called the 10 spot. Created by Nina L. Diaz, Cribs showcased the homes of various celebrities, from actors, to musicians, to athletes. Homes ranged from the smallest of apartments to the biggest mansions imaginable. Cribs was an immediate success. The show had large scale specials dedicated to one celebrity or group, such as the Mariah Carey episode, 50 cent mansion tour, b2k edition, jackass edition, also spawning several spin-offs (Teen Cribs, CMT Cribs, Extreme Cribs). Several examples of fakery have surfaced, involving 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Jojo, Robbie Williams, 3LW, and Bow Wow (Lil Bow Wow).

Video Sources:

All other clips are property of their respective owners.

Music (in order)
Countach - Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Warm Nights - Lakey Inspired
In My Dreams - Lakey Inspired
Vapor Influence - Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Chocolate - LuKremBo
Rainy Day - LuKremBo
Onion - LuKremBo
Daily - LuKremBo
Overjoyed - Lakey Inspired
The Process - Lakey Inspired
Travel - LuKremBo
Empty - LuKremBo
Ambient - Mixkit

Chapters:
Intro - 0:00
MTV in the Early 2000s - 0:43
MTV Cribs Origins / Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous - 1:45
First Episode of MTV CRIBS / The Osbournes - 2:53
CRIBS Tropes: Where the Magic Happens - 4:11
CRIBS Tropes: Fridge Tours and Cristal Bottles - 4:54
CRIBS Tropes: Vehicle Collections - 5:39
Ratings Success, Special Episodes, and Spin-offs - 6:05
Parodies of MTV Cribs - 6:57
Fakery Uncovered - 7:23
Ja Rule's Rented Mansion - 7:37
JoJo's Borrowed Beach House - 9:31
Robbie Williams' Rented Castle - 9:52
3LW's Rented Mansion - 10:07
Bow Wow's Rented Cars - 10:38
50 Cent's Borrowed Ferraris - 11:59
MTV Pressured Redman into Renting a Mansion / Favorite Eps - 13:33
The Future of CRIBS - 16:09
Outro - 17:04

#MTVCribs #MTV #Cribs

[FashoFashaun]

Red man episode is a classic. Rubbing two wires together to get the door bell had me rofling

[MK-wesw]

Redman's cribs is the essence of MTV. That's what it was supposed to be but it wanted to be so Hollywood.

[XGlite]

Redman is an honest dude. What a legend.

[DavidBrocekArt]

It sounds weird to us now, since we take for granted that we are able to basically "chat" with celebrieties on Twitter and stuff. But back in the day, we knew celebrities only from movies and music videos. So watching someone famous going around their own personal kitchen like "Yo, this is where I eat my cereals" just felt unreal and cool af.

[christopherwebb]

I remember listening to Howard Stern talking about Cribs years ago when it was still on the air, and he pointed out how anyone who knows anything about how the recording industry works knows that most artists start out owing their labels so much money that it takes at least three or four hit songs before they really start making real money for themselves. So there's no way these artists with only one hit song to their names could possibly afford massive mansions and fleets of super cars.

[bikespj]

I feel like record labels probably had some part in this. They didn't want people to see how much they were ripping off these musicians.

It probably helped trick new people into contracts and keep the cycle going.

[bankylaw]

Don't forget every rapper on cribs had the line "gotta have the Scarface" when showing off the DVDs or else they weren't gangsta

[TheCheat]

"The first three houses on Cribs are Moby, Ozzy Osbourne, and Jewel."

Say a more 2000 sentence. I DARE you.

[joshleyva]

The Redman episode was hands down the best one.

[davebeat]

Redman's episode was great. The fake ones were so obvious you'd see like one artist that had only had one hit at the time or weren't even known internationally and they had these huge mansions and you were just like nah I don't belive it.

[sandhanitizer]

Ryan Nyquist's joke about the crystal light was actually hilarious

[dth]

Fun fact, I was on set for the filming of the episode with Mario(R&B Singer from Baltimore….not Sisquo lol). His “Crib” was a model unit at Silo Point here in Baltimore. So it wasn’t even a lived in or rented unit. None of the stuff in there was his either. Including the iPhone used to control the A/V system. There was also a rental Maserati. I know the 5 series BMW was his because I ran into him at a bar a few months later.

[BeachLookingGuy]

rappers are the epitome of "fake it till you make it" and even when they've made it they will still fake it....

[NeverMetTheGuy]

TLC used to be The Learning Channel. Now, I'm pretty sure it stands for Terrible Life Choices.

[sandhanitizer]

Redman's episode when he shows the tiny ass closet... "I got a walk in closet...I step in, I step out. You walk in, you walk out." Lmao

[truthteller]

14:17 “His bedroom had a Sega Dreamcast and a bottle of baby lotion set up on the nightstand….” 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂Dead.

[kendramiddletonwilliams]

Red man’s episode was the best - especially looking back. It was honest and humble, and in this day and age of fact checking and being able to check someone’s story? Those were the best.

[anothergamingchannel]

Fun fact: mtv to this day still does the same thing, except now it's on their TV show "catfish." Majority of the people's "houses" they go to are actually rented out air BnB's. There's been multiple guests who have done AMA's on reddit that have admitted mtv rented a local air bnb and passed it off on the episode as belonging to the person on the episode. Presumably it's partially a safety thing as to not give away where the people actually live, and also they can rent a big enough house to fit the film crew inside comfortably plus the people on the show and the hosts

[David..]

Love Redman’s episode. Could see him being the type of guy who drives a 1994 Acura Vigor with 400, 000 miles on it and faded paint with 9 figures in the bank.

[teebee]

I'll never forget when Kelly Rowland was giving her tour, but couldn't remember any facts about the place. Kept stumbling to explaon what everything was, that was when I realized it was fake. 😂