Treach is the front man of the multi-platinum selling rap trio Naughty by Nature that took the world by storm in the early 90’s. Treach worked with fellow group members Vin Rock and DJ Kay Gee. Sometimes he would share versus on songs with Vin Rock, but often, especially on the group’s earlier albums, Treach would be the sole performer on the song. Naughty by Nature pulled off the neat trick of landing big, instantly catchy anthems on the pop charts while maintaining their street level credibility among the hardcore rap faithful; one of the first groups to perform such a balancing act. Discovered by Queen Latifah, Naughty by Nature are probably best known for their massive international hit song, “O.P.P,” which was released in 1991 off their self-titled second offering, “Naughty by Nature.” The song peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. “Hip-Hop Hooray” was another hit song in which Spike Lee directed the video for the song. The group’s second album also spawned the hit song “Everything’s Gonna be Allright.” The group released their third and fourth albums, both which peaked at #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Charts and produced hit singles that kept the groups popularity high. Their album “Poverty’s Paradise” garnered the group a Grammy Award in 1996 for ‘Best Rap Album.’
Treach began his film career in 1990 when his friend the late Tupac Shakur helped him land a role in the critically acclaimed urban legend Juice. Treach fell in love with acting. While continuing his recording career, he dedicated half of his time in the 90’s playing minor roles in features such as The Meteor Man (1993) and Who’s the Man (1993). Acclaimed roles in Jason’s Lyric (1994), television’s New York Undercover, and First Time Felon (an original film) followed.
Over the years Treach’s range and his roles have expanded. He submerged himself in film work landing larger roles in films like Boricua’s Bond (2000) and 3 A.M. (2001), followed by a leading role in Love and a Bullet (2002) about an expert assassin whose next target is a woman he has fallen for. Treach starred in Face, a film by Bertha Pan which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. He continued to build his acting resume with The Book of Love, Playas Ball and a role in the Showtime drama Conviction opposite Omar Epps, Dana Delaney, and Charles Dutton. He had a reoccurring role on Showtime’s Soul Food. Treach’s role as a first-time felon on the HBO series Oz was written specially for him by writer-director Tom Fontana.
Treach co-starred with Steven Segal in 2005 in the action-packed thriller Today You Die and landed a role on an episode of the HBO hit The Sopranos in 2006.
In 2009, Treach landed the leading role of Agent Neil Shaw in the newest installment of the Art of War in the Art of War III: Retribution. Treach relied on his martial arts skill to play the role of Shaw who fought through the mean streets of Korea to fight terrorism. He also starred in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and a role in the urban drama Before I Self Destruct directed by 50 Cent.
Treach continues to tour with Naughty by Nature, movies, and reality television. He recently appeared on VH-1’s Couples Therapy Season 5 with his wife Cicely Criss in 2014. Treach has been on WE tv’s Growing Up Hip for the last five seasons supporting his oldest daughter Egypt Criss who is a cast member. In 2020, Treach produced and starred in the intense and controversial movie Equal Standards with long-term friend Ice T who was the movie’s executive producer. Treach is currently playing a very dark character who is a Muslim assassin, Brother X in Carl Weber’s The Family Business on BET Plus.