"I must say that's straight playa." - Ice-T

The Movie

Ain't nothin' like seeing the bling bling of the rich and famous, baby. Today, successful music artists have more money than should be legally allowed. Not that that's such a bad thing really, but it sure makes us po' middle class workers feel inadequate with our modest homes, dirty living rooms, and Honda Accords sittin' in the driveway. But it's the lavish lifestyles of the absurdly rich that peaks our curiosity. It allows us the opportunity to ask ourselves, what kind of place would I live in if I were rich beyond my wildest dreams? MTV Cribs answers this question from the music stars' point of view.

You just never know what you're going to see in a house featured on MTV Cribs. You might see an exotic indoor pool with Greek statures surrounding the perimeter. You might see a three-story house with it's own fully working see-through elevator. You might see a family room with more TV monitors than NASA's mission control room. You might see a home with a full-length indoor basketball court complete with wood floors. You might even see a lounge area that has its own stripper's pole!(You know, for those late nights when you just want to kick back, relax and enjoy the show) Like I said, you just never know.

Back when I used to watch MTV regularly, Cribs was my absolute favorite show. I've always loved looking at houses, and love looking at rich people's houses even more. So when a show came around that took the viewing audience into the personal dwelling of MTV's hottest music stars, pure magic was bound to happen. The MTV Cribs Collection is a series of DVD's that show us the best of MTV Cribs.

Cribs: Hip-Hop

You ain't seen nothin' till you've seen what three million dollars can do for your master bedroom. Sound insane? Well, that's what Master P roughly spent on his, and he feels it was worth every penny. MTV Cribs: Hip-Hop is the collection of the most memorable rap stars homes throughout the show's seasons, and let me tell you, they've collected some wild cribs.

We're taken to see the homes of Big Boi of Outcast, Ice-T, Ludacris, Master P, Missy Elliott, Nelly, Redman, Russell Simmons, and Snoop Dogg. Every one of these segments is enjoyable, and just about every one will make you say, "what the?" at least once.

Some of the highlights are: Russell Simmons beautifully designed NY City penthouse apartment that was sadly demolished during the tragic September 11th attacks, Big Boi's "Boom Boom" activity room complete with stripper's pole, Ludacris's swamp painted hallway, Missy Elliott's extravagant 14,223 sq. ft. 25-room home with exotic indoor pool, Nelly's tasteful lakeside living room, Ice-T's indoor/outdoor swimming pool with retraceable ceiling, Snoop Dog's full length outdoor basketball court decorated in Lakers' purple and gold, Master P's over-the-top dream home with indoor elevator and a $3 million master bedroom, and Redman's hilarious ghetto two bedroom townhouse complete with both a broken doorbell and front screen door.

This hour-long feature is entertaining the first time through, but becomes just as entertaining the second time when listening to the director/producers commentary audio track. If you loved the show on MTV and you wouldn't mind having these memorable episodes on DVD feel free to pick this up.


The DVD

Video:
Cribs is presented in 1.33:1 full screen. This is pretty much an awful looking DVD. The picture is pixilated, jaggy, and slightly blurry. This is one television release that can at times look much worse than it did when it originally aired on MTV. Given the content, I'm not heartbroken over this transfer, as it isn't imperative for it to look stellar, but some of the scenes look so bad, I think to myself that a much better job should have been done. If all the MTV Collection DVD's look this bad, some letters may have to start pouring in to the studios' headquarters demanding a higher quality product.

Audio:
Cribs: Hip-Hop comes with a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. The audio is the biggest bright spot for this DVD. Despite having a 2.0 track the rear surrounds light up often creating a cozy musical atmosphere. The audio clear, and dialogue is easy to decipher, with the exception of the audio commentary track, which can be hard to hear at times. Nothing special here, but nothing detrimental either.

Extras:
I was surprised to find that a couple extra features were included on this DVD. The best and most notable is the audio commentary track given by Nina L. Diaz (Creator/Director/Producer), Erika Clarke (Producer/Director), and Toni Ann Carabello (Producer/Director). These three women provide a highly entertaining commentary, as they like to comment on the star's homes, as well as their experiences while filming each particular show. These women pull very few punches when it comes to their host, making fun of them whenever a perfect opportunity arrives. It's easy to relate to these witty women to produce the show, because they seem like grounded individuals who find these star's homes as outrageous as we do. The only downside to the commentary is that often they get caught up in the show, and forget to talk. This results in lengthy spots of dead air. Other than that, this commentary is just as informative and hilarious as the original show so you shouldn't pass this feature up.

The second extra feature is a very short montage of blooper clips from our gracious MTV Cribs: Hip-Hop DVD host, Redman. These were marginally funny, but not what I was expecting. I would rather have seen blooper from the actual tapings of the show. That would have been much more entertaining and interesting to see. I would go so far as to say these bloopers are a complete waste of bandwidth on this set.


Final Thoughts:
MTV Cribs: Hip Hop is a fascinating look into the extravagant homes of some of the biggest names in the hip-hop community. If you enjoy looking at unique houses and don't mind laughing a little along the way, this DVD is definitely worth a look. Some may want to rent first, as you may only be interested in seeing this once, but hard-core fans of these particular artists will want to purchase this right off the bat. Recommended