Before They Were Famous

In today’s episode, we’re taking a look at one of the most famous and influential celebrity families of modern times -- if not ever – that’s right, I’m talking about the Kardashians. Not only would their television series, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, propel the entire family to instant fame, but it also changed celebrity culture forever with their tell-all approach that let their fans into...

When Kim Kardashian first had her name mentioned in the pages of Forbes magazine way back in 2011, it was simply to point out how remarkable her social media following was at the time with over 6 Million followers. Five years later, she’d land on the cover of the magazine thanks to her incredibly popular mobile game that would help earn her $51 Million in 2016 alone. Now, another five years later,...

Ben Askren is a professional fighter and one of the world’s greatest wrestlers who’d also be the first to admit that striking was never his go-to choice in the ring. In fact, throwing hands at his opponent was never part of his game plan. Instead, this two-time Hodge Trophy winner and NCAA wrestling champion always relied on his superior grappling ability to win fight, after fight, after fight. So...

On the BRIGHT SIDE OF FAME – with more than 20 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, 14 Million followers on Instagram, and almost 4 Million on Twitter, Jake Paul has become one of the most successful stars of his generation whether it’s in the world of viral content creation or even the world of professional boxing. This self-proclaimed “everyday bro with a Disney channel flow” has been in...

The series would last for five years and early ratings were through the roof with the premiere of season 2 even out doing the viewership of the Winter Olympics in the women-under-34 demographic. This series was, without a doubt, a pop-culture touchstone that remained so relevant after going off the air that MTV is getting ready to bring it back in a big way in 2021. But on the DARK SIDE OF FAME is...

On the BRIGHT SIDE OF FAME – that song almost immediately turned him into a household name upon its release. Not only did this track end up as the No.1 song on the charts, but it became the longest-charting No. 1 song ever at 19 consecutive weeks at the top. All-in-all Lil Nas X was said to have made over $14 Million in 2019 alone and he also made Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list that year as well. But...

After 70-years spent in the public eye, Prince Phillip was the longest-serving royal consort in British history and while his adult life was one chock-full of privilege, his childhood was anything but. In fact, it was marked by tragedy and loneliness. As a member of both Greek and Danish royalty, Philp and his family were banished from their native country while he was still only a toddler and Phi...

In December of 2009, MTV flipped the script on all of us by unleashing upon our unsuspecting eyes the slow-motion car-crash of a series that was “Jersey Shore”, introducing us to unforgettable characters like Snooki, Vinny, JWoww, Angelina, DJ Pauly, Ronnie, Sammi, and, of course, The Situation. For six seasons the cast would be filmed by remote-controlled and hand-held cameras as these characters...

In the late ’90s, a group of skateboarders, all of whom were in their late teens and living in West Chester, Pennsylvania, would find themselves playing a crucial role in the re-invention of comedy for the new millennium. This group, known as CKY would have its primary membership composed of Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo, Chris Rabb, and Jess Margera, all of whom were close personal fr...

Their music was raw, grimy, laced with kung-fu references, and featured tongue-in-cheek lyrics over top of distorted soul samples. Quite frankly, it was like nothing else we’d ever heard before, and to this day, their music remains unquestionably singular with their debut album, “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” going onto be considered one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. But what’s tr...

Today we got another Canadian creator who is blowing up in a big way and according to a local newspaper from back in the day Stromedy, or Kyle Godfrey had always been dubbed the class clown. His road to YouTube fame is a pretty interesting story. The kid once worked at a local grocery store and tried his hand at acting and college before pouring his life into his YouTube channel & yes, we've dug u...

Memphis-born rapper Pooh Shiesty is one of the hottest up-and-coming rappers in the game right now thanks to tracks like “Main Slime Remix” and “Shiesty Summer”. Shiesty has cornered the market on airy beats that pair nicely with his powerful delivery and slick production. Over the last year, he’s racked up millions of streams and has definitely secured himself the bag. Pretty impressive for a kid...

Icebox is a forward-thinking jewelry store for the new generation of rappers and, quite frankly, its popularity is off the charts thanks to their one-of-a-kind approach to showcasing their catalog. The store has its very own YouTube Channel with 1 Million subscribers that features more hip-hop legends than any other channel outside of something like Complex or Genius – seriously, Lil Baby, NLE Cho...

Rapper DMX took over as the undisputed king of rap. X, whose real name is Earl Simmons was that rare breed of a superstar whose credibility on the streets would turn him into a commercial powerhouse and while his ascent to the top of the rap game was almost a decade in the making, his journey transformed him into one of rap’s most iconic personalities. It can be easy to forget how successful X was...

Before Johnny Orlando would create the YouTube channel “JohnnyOSings” and kick off a career that would catapult him to the top of the Canadian music scene. Before Johnny Orlando would drop his newest EP “It’s Never Really Over”. In a lot of ways, Johnny is still your typical kid – during the day he hangs out with friends and catches up with his homework, but on some nights, he turns into a musical...

Rod Wave has been singing ever since he was in the 5th Grade, but believe it or not, that didn’t convince him that he had a future in music. When this self-described super-shy dude was a kid in St. Petersburg, he really didn’t have any idea what he wanted to be. But these days, Rod is one of the most promising singers in the game and he definitely wouldn’t have it any other way. Why was Rod’s pre-...

When MTV’s reality series “Pimp My Ride” first hit the airwaves back in 2004. Over the course of its six seasons, this series would go onto become one of the most popular properties in MTV history. The basic premise was this: a young person living in the greater Los Angeles area would videotape a plea for MTV to “pimp their ride”, whereupon the show’s loveable host, rapper Xzibit, would surprise t...

Dan Bilzerian is the 40-year-old son of an exiled Corporate Raider who has managed to transform himself into a kind of Bruce Wayne meets Hugh Hefner for the modern age of social media. Over the years, his ever-increasingly public profile has seen him grow more and more successful, and he recently launched his own cannabis company know as Ignite. But can Dan manage to juggle a daily schedule chock-...

For those few of you who may not know her all that well, Mia made waves a number of years ago in the industry after appearing in a handful of different scenes, some of which sparked immense controversy due to the fact that she was recorded in a hijab, a performance that would lead to many people lobbing threats her way. Of course, this outrage only made Mia all the more famous, but after only a fe...

Whether it was modeling pictorials or her very own reality television dating show “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila”, it became abundantly clear early on that Tila’s M.O. was to get famous at any cost – and guess what? It worked! This pint-sized woman with a gigantic personality managed to stay relevant for years by attempting one project after another. So the question is what is Tila Tequila up t...

If you were a kid growing up in the '90s or just a hockey fan in general one of your all-time favorite films on VHS had to be The Mighty Ducks. I mean the films even inspired a real-world NHL team although I don't think any team in the big league ever tried to pull off the flying v. Some have has some run-ins including Jussie Smollett who made headlines in 2019 for a faked racial attack in Chicago...

Stefan Islas Ross (born Sierra Blanca; May 27, 1995) is an American rapper better known by his stage name Lil Conscious. He is noted for his freestyles “Ashes” and “Bojak” Lilconscious has hit over 1 million views with his song Bojak on SoundCloud and has hit 300,000 streams on Spotify with his song Ashes. Lil Conscious is easily one of the most mysterious presences on all of the internet. The man...

For a whole bunch of kids that grew up in the ’90s, both girls AND boys, the orbit of the Spice Girls were inescapable – you either loved them yourself or you had five or six people close to you that did play their music non-stop. This group with their self-styled “Girl Power” mantra revolutionized the music industry and created a brand of female empowerment that transformed them into a global phe...

If being endlessly imitated and sampled by some of the biggest rappers in the world is an acknowledgment for a career well spent, then Lauryn Hill, despite only having one solo-album credit to her name, never has to doubt the impact she made in her chosen field. Take for instance her track “Ex-Factor”, a song that’s been sampled by the likes of Drake in “Nice for What” AND Cardi B in “Be Careful”....

The episodes of “Viva La Bama” tended to have a specific theme, mission, or challenge that would be explored throughout the length of each episode. The show wasn’t quite a cultural phenomenon, but it had a dedicated fanbase all around the world and was popular enough to last five seasons. But after the show went off the air in August of 2005, the fans of this series were left without their daily f...