S. Samuel
With reality television shows like "Love & Hip Hop" taking over popular culture, former "Famous Food" Vh1 star and Three 6 Mafia member DJ Paul recently spoke to SOHH about the infectious trend.
Despite the televised craziness and drama of overnight cast members on various shows, DJ Paul said fans should expect to see the trend only grow because of the cheap costs of doing reality TV.
“It’s still competitive because reality shows are now the new TV shows,” DJ Paul told SOHH when asked for his take on reality television stereotypes. “Back in the day, we used to have sh*t like ‘Sanford & Sons’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ and they were like us. Back in those days, those guys used to get paid millions of dollars and these days, you can get somebody for a reality show and pay them $1,500 to start, per episode, and they go and act a fool and act a clown. You don’t have to write a script, for the most part, and it’s just easy money for the productions companies. And then it’s something that people like to watch. Any time when you can do something that’s entertaining for a small fraction of the money, it’s usually a win-win. You don’t have to pay these reality show people nothing unless the show gets so hot and they threaten to leave.” (SOHH)
He also pointed out why fans continue to buy into the weekly real-life chaos.
“For the most part, people on the average reality show don’t make no millions,” Paul added. “I like them because it’s people’s personal lives and you’re looking at what they’re doing. That’s why I like things like Twitter. People like to be nosey and get involved with their personal lives.” (SOHH)
Earlier this month, former “Love & Hip Hop” cast member Jim Jones spoke on his issues of today’s reality TV standards.
“When we started this, it wasn’t really about that,” Jones said, explaining how most of the reality tv shows are based on shock value now. “It was about giving people a taste of what it is to be involved with a person like myself and a person like myself giving you a taste of what it is to see me not just in front of the camera but behind the camera and just seeing regular life and going through the same things that everybody else goes through. What we have here is nothing but a new ‘Flavor of Love.’ It’s just a bunch of Flavor Flav’s on tv and a bunch of New York. So I’m not really into that, it’s comical I guess, it’s good for a laugh but I ain’t really into that. I don’t like people laughing at me, I like people laughing with me. You know what I mean? … We not pressed to do reality tv. Although it is a great business move as far as marketing and promotions — we’re not gonna compromise who we are just for a shot at the big screen. It doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t add up. … These people are selling their souls for peanuts and it hurts my soul because it’s kind of like blaxploitation in a way, but, that’s another story.” (“Jenny Boom Boom”)
Recently, Midwest rapper Freddie Gibbs took a shot at rappers cashing in on reality shows.
“I think that’s wack. I think you weak if you’re on a reality show, really,” Gibbs said when asked for his take on rappers landing starring roles in reality television shows. “You know what I mean? I think you should just do your music and do your thing and if you’re mad at me saying that, come see me.” (WGCI)
