The (White) Rapper Show aired on VH1 in 2007, created by the team behind Ego Trip magazine, including Sacha Jenkins and Elliott Wilson.
The show featured 10 white rappers competing in the South Bronx for a $100,000 grand prize, with MC Serch of 3rd Bass serving as host. It lasted only one season but was notable for exploring issues of race, appropriation and authenticity in Hip-Hop, using humor and competition to provoke discussions about what it means to be a “real” rapper and how white artists fit into a predominantly Black musical tradition.
Jenkins, who’s credited as an executive producer on the show, died on May 23 from multiple system atrophy. As tributes poured in, Serch was noticeably quiet—until now. MC Serch Breaks Silence On Series Creator Sacha Jenkins’ Death On Sunday (May 25), he took to Instagram to pen a lengthy caption, touching on his history with Jenkins and what led him to becoming the host of The (White) Rapper Show.
“It took me a few to come around to this post,” Serch began. “Sacha Jenkins and I had been friends for quite some time. We would talk about lyrics consistently. He loved @ocditc and would remind me that his favorite OC line was off of ‘Word…Life’ album and the song of the same title. ‘I like lips with natural juices.’ He would say it in a way that cracked a smile to show he appreciated the sentiment but also just how dope it was. SHR was a writer in the purest form. When he talked to me about hosting the show, I was already doing radio in Detroit. So coming home to shoot he pilot took some doing.
“I had to do my radio show live from NY to Detroit in the AM, and then shoot the pilot the rest of the day. There was no doubt that the show would be picked up. It was so well written and thought out. The way @egotripland always did things. Elliot, Gabe, Rollins and the VH1 team all crafting this social experiment that really delivered. It gave me a chance to peruse TV and for the next 8 years I lived of off pilots and failed attempts to launch a show. However my family was well cared for. TV had budgets.”
But MC Serch’s trip down memory lane turned to regret as he continued. He ultimately expressed some sorrow over what sounds like a fractured relationship.
“The last time I saw Sacha was coming to NY for an interview with @robertjkenner @dannybones64 about Illmatic,” he went on. “He was in the @massappeal offices and was sitting next to @bittenbender and he waived. They were in a meeting and I was late. When I got seated I found out that there was a serious medical emergency back home and I simply got up and ran out. I got a text from him that I kept. ‘Regardless, I hope that your family is safe. be well.’ The truth is we did not speak after that. Not a word or a text. Life started life-ing and we had things to do.
“There has been a tremendous sense of loss at this season of my life. We are at that age. However I really had hoped that I would have had time to sit with Sacha and just make amends. To let him know who I am today. That there were so many words left unsaid between us. As a writer I am sure he would understand that but the truth is that Sacha did not waste words. He savored them. They were precious. Words and language. Through every form. Description, definition, explanation and expansion.”
Jenkins was 54 at the time of his death. Memorial details have yet to be announced.
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