An MC SERCHes for the next white rapper

Not since the days when the Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice, and House of Pain were all in rotation at the same time has hip-hop had this many white MC's. Or, at least, wannabe white MC's. Thank Ego Trip's The White Rapper Show, premiering January 8 on VH1. As the big-haired half of the former trailblazing white rap group 3rd Bass, MC Serch acts as host and mentor for ten vanilla faces from around the country learning how to survive and thrive in the birthplace of hip-hop, the Boogie Down Bronx. After a series of challenges that test hip-hop knowledge and microphone skills, contestants are voted off one by one until a lone white rapper is left standing, ready to get respect. Serch tells Radar what it takes to be a playa', how he's winning his feud with Vanilla Ice, and why Jews are the new Black.

RADAR: Ego Trip's The White Rapper Show is bonkers.
MC SERCH: It is bon-kares. Yes, it is definitely bonkers.

I think the show kind of gives the white rapper an even playing field. But at the same time kind of shows why the white rapper has a difficult time in the mainstreamI saw the whole first episode of your show.
You're fresh.

I'm totally fresh! Do you think it's going to be the next Amazing Race?
I have no idea. I am not a big fan of reality TV.

What?!
But my wife thinks so. I tend to think my wife is a television expert. She picks hit shows like normal people pick underwear. And she has really good feelings about the show.

Is she feeling Emmy?
I really hope the Ego Trip guys do get an Emmy, 'cause I think their writing was just really fantastic. They deserve it.

Do you think America needs more white rappers?
I think that over the last 30 years of hip hop, you see it is increasingly more and more difficult for white rappers to get the recognition that they deserve. There's always been this stigma that there's only room in the mainstream for one white rapper at a time. Like 3rd Bass had their slot, then House of Pain had their slot, and then Eminem had his slot. I just think this kind of gives the white rapper an even playing field. But at the same time I think it kind of shows why the white rapper has a difficult time in the mainstream.

What do you think the biggest difference is between a white rapper and a black rapper?

I think white rappers, and this show is a very good indication of that, don't understand the culture. They understand that it's music, and they understand that you have to rap to a beat, and they understand the basics. I think typically white rappers feel like they don't need to know everything—that it's unique enough for them to be the white rapper.

Is that why you moved them all to the South Bronx? Did anybody try to put a cap in your ass?
No, nobody tried to bust a cap in our ass. Nobody tried to use 1985 language with us either. That neighborhood was the breeding ground for the first wave of hip-hop. I think it was important that the show be in the birthplace of hip-hop because that's where it all started.