After studying several instruments and singing with gospel choirs in his native Chicago, the heavyset African-American relocated to Atlanta to work for the long distance company. His first success in show business came with the hit song "He's the Champ" that parodied the marriage of boxer Mike Tyson and actress Robin Givens. Based on the tune's success, McBride was signed by Esquire Records and he joined the rhythm and blues band Covert.

Convinced he should try his hand in front of the cameras, the singer moved to Los Angeles and, billed as 'Chi', landed guest spots on Fox's "In Living Color" and NBC's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" as well as a featured role in the TV-movie "Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation" (Fox, 1992). Within a year, he had landed the role of Heavy Gene, the surly bus station janitor who decidedly did not like cleaning, on the sitcom "The John Larroquette Show" (NBC, 1993-96). McBride has also appeared in a handful of features including the Eddie Murphy vehicle "The Distinguished Gentleman" (1992) and Peter Jackson's "The Frighteners" (1996), as one of the trio of ghosts in cahoots with Michael J Fox. He also appears in a prominent supporting role alongside Tim Roth, Vanessa Williams and Laurence Fishburne in Bill Duke's "Hoodlum" (1997).

McBride returned to sitcoms as a fictional British butler to US President Abraham Lincoln in the slightly controversial UPN series "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer" (1998). After that series' quick demise, McBride landed roles in "Disney's The Kid" and "Gone in 60 Seconds" (both 2000) before returning to the small screen playing Steven Harper, the beleaguered principal of a big city high school in David E. Kelley's "Boston Public" (Fox, 2000-2004), a role he essayed to excellent effect (he was nominated for an AFI TV Series Actor of the Year award and a Golden Satellite Award for the part) despite increasingly improbable storylines.

In 2002, he joined Ray Liotta and Jason Patric for the crime thriller "Narc," and in a 180-degree turn played The Chief in the comedy "Undercover Brother" that same year. Supporting roles in the crime drama "Paid in Full" (2002) and the urban action thriller "Cradle 2 the Grave" (2003) followed, and the actor got a fresh opportunity to show off his talents to a wide audience when he appeared opposite Tom Hanks in director Steven Spielberg's "The Terminal" (2004) as a kind-hearted baggage carousel worker, and opposite Will Smith in the sci fi thriller "I, Robot" (2004) as a police lieutenant. He then appeared in the low-budget slice-of-life comedy "Waiting" (2005) as a dishwasher who dispenses advice to other employees, including a waiter (Justin Long) sick of his dead-end job.