The Best Episode of ‘MTV Cribs’ Is an Absurdist Masterpiece That Roasts Celebrity Culture
Back in the ’80s, celebrity opulence and grandeur were celebrated on the show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Hosted by Robin Leach, the series guided viewers through the lavish homes, vacations, and over-the-top lifestyles of the world’s wealthiest stars. In the ’90s, MTV took that format and ran with it, creating their own version known as Cribs.
Twenty-five years ago, when Cribs debuted in September 2000, music fans were invited inside the sprawling homes of 50 Cent, Beyoncé, and Shaquille O’Neal as the celebrities themselves played tour guide through their abundant abodes. Mariah Carey flaunted a closet bigger than most apartments, while Usher showed off a living room lined with Versace wallpaper. Like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous before it, Cribs offered viewers a rare peek behind the velvet rope, a voyeuristic thrill ride through fame, fortune, and unapologetic excess.
In Season 2 Episode 5, Cribs gifted the world “Hip Hop: Part 2,” better known as the “De La Casa Episode,” featuring rapper Redman (a.k.a. Reginald “Reggie” Noble). Viewers were taken on a full tour of his two-bedroom Staten Island townhouse in what can only be described as a chaotic fever dream of reality television, gleefully subverting every expectation.
Smaller than the sprawling mansions fans had come to expect, Redman’s home was cluttered and unapologetically lived-in, complete with his cousin Sugar Bear asleep on the floor. Viewers got an unfiltered look at his clothes stacked in clear plastic bins, his proudly displayed adult movie collection, and his MacGyver-ed doorbell system — part science project, part death trap — plus a dozen other bizarre details that made this episode an instant classic.
Starting in the bedroom (which Redman dubs “Exhibit A”), the dark, unkempt room is filled with empty food containers, his “nasty movies” for “the freaks,” and his collection of hangers. Redman then guides the camera crew into the bathroom to show off his array of body washes before heading into his in-home music studio, complete with records on the floor and bare walls. The crew heads downstairs next, where Redman explains his lighting concept, never mind his passed-out cousin in a sleeping bag on the floor.
MTV Vault/YouTube
In the “left wing of the crib” (a.k.a. the kitchen), Redman shows off his “dollar box,” an old shoebox filled with cash. “If I need some money, I just run to the dollar box and go get me some bread, or some juice,” he says. “It comes in handy. You should keep one in the house.” He then proudly showcases the grilled fish fillets he keeps in the fridge.
The episode ends with Redman standing in his broken doorway, yelling, “I’ll see y’all next time! Peace! And bring me something to eat!”
MTV Vault/YouTube
Adding to the lunacy of the episode, Cribs leans into its signature, high-energy style with long tracking shots, wide establishing angles, over-the-shoulder walk-throughs, dramatic tilt-ups and tilt-downs, and push-ins meant to flaunt a celebrity’s decadent lifestyle. In Redman’s case, those same glossy camera tricks only heighten the comedy, turning the segment into a calamity of chaos as he proudly shows off the 13-inch TV perched on his bed, his messy bathroom complete with open bottles of Herbal Essence, and the infamous cousin Sugar Bear, fast asleep through the entire shoot.
The “De La Casa” episode remains one of the highest-rated and best-received Cribs installments ever, and for good reason. It’s bedlam elevated to art, shattering the show’s usual polish and landing somewhere between performance piece and documentary. Redman keeps it as real as possible. This is how he lives, and he’s proud of it.
MTV Vault/YouTube
Years later, Redman revealed that MTV had offered to rent him a nicer house for the show, but he refused. On Uproxx’s Fresh Pair, he explained: “It was like, ‘Yo, we want to do your MTV Cribs,’ and the first thing they said was, ‘All right, we have a couple of houses picked out for you.’ I said, ‘You know what, I got a house for y’all to come to.'”
“And no BS! They came to my crib! They walked in my door! ‘Cause I caught them off guard. They had no clue how I was living, so they walked up in my s**t and started looking around like, ‘Yo, you live up here?’” Redman recalled, cracking up the Fresh Pair crew. “After I showed them my crib, they went outside and had a meeting.”
Now, almost 25 years later, MTV barely plays music videos, and the reality TV it does air feels staged or cringe-inducing, but nothing compares to Redman’s episode of MTV Cribs. It remains a one-of-a-kind time capsule, a gloriously unpolished gem that reminds us how wild, weird, and wonderful reality TV could be when it wasn’t trying so hard.
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