He helped establish the Latino community as a contributing force in the Bronx's early hip-hop culture.
Chase's family moved often and lived in different New York City neighborhoods, which were primarily Puerto Rican or Black.
In 1981, Chase got his first movie role: he portrayed himself in the film Wild Style, in which he had a small speaking part and performed with his group.
He remembers not feeling welcome because most early participants felt that it was “a Black thing and something that’s from their roots…being Hispanic, you’re not accepted in rap.”[2] Chase was never quiet about his ethnicity, despite some backlash.
“And being that I was there at the very beginning, that was the way I had to do it, that was my contribution.”[3] When artists like The Mean Machine began to popularize Spanish-language hip-hop, Chase was wary that they were straying too far from hip hop's roots but, eventually, he recognized their new contributions to the genre and put his support behind what he deemed “cool and new.”[4] Chase's work was an influence to many artists that came after him, such as underground acts like Mellow Man Ace and Latin Empire, and mainstream rappers like Fat Joe and Big Pun.