I'm not old enough to remember the "glory days" of MTV playing music all day. By the time I started watching MTV, Bevis and Butthead was the channel's flagship show along with all the offerings on Liquid Television. Like most kids in my generation, I didn't associate MTV with music. MTV was shorthand for youth culture in general. A lesson that Xzibit had to learn the hard way through his hit show Pimp My Ride.
Hit shows have hamstrung several stars throughout the years. George Reeves' alleged suicide was attributed to his inability to escape the shadow of his role as Superman. While not nearly as drastic, Pimp My Ride killed Xzibit's rap career. In Xzibit's mind, MTV was still music television. Believing that his affiliation with MTV would garner more time for his music videos, the Los Angeles-based rapper swiftly discovered what the channel conditioned my generation to understand: MTV and music broke up years ago.
In the video linked above, the YouTube channel Hip Hop Madness recounts the play by play of how Xzibit threw away his dreams.
