MC Serch (Michael Berrin) was born and raised in an orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York. After graduating from The High School of Music & Art in New York, he immersed himself in hip-hop culture and became one of the first white rappers. As a member of the group 3rd Bass, he recorded two gold albums, “The Cactus Album” (1989), and “Derelicts of Dialect” (1991), as well as “The Cactus Revisited” (1990). In 1992, MC Serch had two hit singles on his solo album, “Return of the Product.”
After retiring from performing—to focus on his family (wife of more than 20 years and their three children)—Serch also cultivated new talent. He discovered rapper Nas (Nasir Jones), and executive-produced the rapper’s first two critically acclaimed albums, “Illmatic” and “It Was Written.”
MC Serch also executive produced several other projects for artists, including OC, Non-Phixion and Boss. The song that he wrote and produced for Boss was recently featured in online promotion for the Nextflix original series, “Orange is the New Black.” He wrote several songs for the film “Bebe’s Kids” and served as both consultant and soundtrack executive producer for the film “Zebrahead.” Serch was also a featured performer in the Spike Lee film, “Bamboozled.”
In 2003, Serch and his family moved to Detroit, where he became the first non-African-American DJ at the urban radio station WJLB/FM 98 since Casey Kasem in the mid-1950s. He hosted “Serch in the AM,” and helped catapult the station to #1 in the market for the first time in 12 years. In 2007, he hosted VH1’s “The (White) Rapper Show,” which was followed up by “Miss Rap Supreme” in 2009.
In early 2014, MC Serch headlined his own daytime television talk show, “Serch,” from CBS Television Distribution and Tribune Broadcasting.
Keep Up With Serch
Follow MC Serch on Twitter, where you can keep up with his usual ramblings and interactions.