Rappers are normally presented as one-dimensional caricatures. Obviously that isn’t the case. MC Serch, best known for his work as one-half of the rap group 3rd Bass, has a resume that is amazingly diverse and stunningly impressive. In addition to two gold albums and a gold single with 3rd Bass, Serch owns and operates his own record and promotions company. He is also a devoted husband, father to three children and community activist.
Most recently Serch hosted two highly rated VH1 reality series, “The White Rapper Show” and “Miss Rap Supreme.” But Serch is also a radio personality who has broken down barriers by working at not one but two Detroit Urban radio stations. His latest venture, one which he’s very passionate about, is a new nationally syndicated Super Radio show “The Old Skool Show with MC Serch.” It’s classic Hip-Hop at its best delivered with a localized feel. We recently caught up with Serch, who had a lot to say about radio and his new show and what’s happening in the world of Hip-Hop today.
eQB presents excerpts from the August FMQB magazine Rhythm/Crossover Up Close with Serchlite Music Founder MC Serch
On the concept behind 3rd Bass and its success…
I don’t know if we had a concept. We were just two dudes that really loved Hip-Hop and loved to rhyme. We loved Rap music and loved the culture. The concept really was to be accepted for our skills, and be accepted for how much we loved and appreciated Hip-Hop. Pete’s [Pete Nice] and my concept was always just to make great music. As far as our success, we had no idea. We knew we had paid our dues in New York and that we’d made some really strong records. But it wasn’t until after we did Showtime At The Apollo and we went to London and then we came back, and Carol Ford from KISS-FM (WRKS/New York) was playing our record at two o’clock in the afternoon. That’s when I knew it was going to be, like next level, and it was an amazing run.
On the birth of Serchlight Music…
I started the production company in 1992 right after the split of the group. I always knew I’d have another involvement in Hip-Hop beyond rhyming. At the time it was unfathomable to do what Jay-Zis doing, and be in your mid-thirties and still have relevance in Hip-Hop. There was a fresh new stamp, if you will, on rappers, so I always wanted to transition into the music business as much as possible. I’ll never forget what Barry Weiss always said to me: “Serch as soon as you’re done rapping, if you ever need a job, come see me.” So when the group disbanded and I started working on my solo album, I was introduced to Nas, and I felt like this was a good time for me to start my production company and really take it to the music executive producing level. It kind of went from there.
On working in morning radio in Detroit…
A lot of people in the game know this about me, I studied radio. I learned and really understood radio. I might not have understood the politics as well as everybody, but I love the culture of radio. And, to be the first non-African American in the history of WJLB/Detroit’s 65-year legacy as one of the oldest and most respected call letters in radio, and to have that kind of position and come into a city, was the chance of a lifetime. I couldn’t pass it up. KJ Holiday, who introduced me to radio and gave me my first radio job in Virginia, really believed that we could cross-culturalize Detroit. It’s a very segregated city. We went in there with a mission to kind of unify Detroit, and we did a great job the three years I was there.
On hosting VH1’s The White Rapper and Miss Rap Supreme…
That was so much fun. The Ego Trip guys are creative and smart. You know when you’re getting involved with those guys that you’re going to get involved in something that’s really special…something that really commands your attention, and is a different type of television. The thing about the impact that it’s left, not only on TV but on Hip-Hop culture, is incredible to me. I still get calls from people in Australia who are watching the reruns that want to be on the next season of The White Rapper Show. This season the show is just starting to touch Poland and it’s going all over the world, it’s amazing.
On the opportunity to do The Old Skool Show with MC Serch…
For four years, [DJ] Envius, who was involved in doing the Fat Man Scoop Show and the Snoop Dogg Show, had a real feel for syndication, and I knew Envius when he was 17-years-old deejaying at KXJM in Portland. We had a long term relationship and for years he bothered me about doing an “Old Skool” show. But it just didn’t feel right. I thought of syndication the way most PDs and GMs do, which is stale. Radio has to be regionalized. It has to be local! Most shows are very stale and don’t deal with the community or deal with what’s going on in their market. It’s very blah to say the least, and I couldn’t do it.
For me to be focused and dedicated to something, I need to be passionate about it. We couldn’t find a syndication partner that understood what we wanted to do. So last year I said the only way I’m going to do this show is if we can get a syndicating partner that’s going to allow me to localize a national show. I want to be on the air in Philly, Detroit and Phoenix. I don’t want to have a syndication show in those places. There’s a difference. I wanted this to be one-hundred-percent localized and it’s unheard of in today’s typical syndication world.
On the state of Hip-Hop music…
There is more room for intelligent music and I think we are under serving the audience with a lot of the music we play. I believe there’s more room for Lupe Fiasco. I want the PDs in their markets to understand that their older audience is there to teach their younger audience, and that the younger audience isn’t here to teach the older audience. It shouldn’t be that way. The mass audience is your younger audience, but that audience still answers to a mother, a father, an uncle, an older brother, and an older cousin who can turn them on to Lupe or Common. The types of intelligent artists that are making music that doesn’t speak down to you, but really uplifts you. There’s a lot of room for that as much as I think there’s more room for creative R&B.
On how radio stations and record labels can improve their working relationship…
They all have to realize that this shrinking box is affecting all of us. Radio is losing audience not because of technology but because they’re not super serving the marketplace. Record labels didn’t embrace technology and that’s why they’re losing the marketplace. Radio and record labels have to work better together to understand there’s a wider audience than what they’re serving, and super serving — and that these artists deserve more looks.
On the future of Hip-Hop headed and where it’s headed…
There are three levels to where Hip-Hop is headed. The underground level is going to continue to expand. There’s plenty of room for the Sex Pistols, Talking Heads and Ramones of Hip-Hop. I see having more consumer base labels like Rhymesayers, having more consumer base because they’re smart and effectively using the Internet. I see major labels really not being able to understand the marketplace, and kind of letting go of Hip-Hop the way they did in the early ’80s, and being very selective about groups they sign. But I also see Rap artists being more conscious of the music that they’re making.
For more information on “The Old Skool Show with MC Serch” go to:http://www.myspace.com/oldskoolradioshow or contact Super Radio at 212 631-0800
** QB Content by Bob Burke **
| Also in the August Issue: |
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Street Scenes |
