Yo fellow WIB followers welcome back to another edition of ‘DROP ON A CLASSIC’. So this time its the usual drill 3rd Bass = great group = great music = great samples to be showcased and an interesting history behind the group and its members. So sit back and relax with your favorite beverage and read on to increase your knowledge.

3rd Bass are an American Hip Hop group from the late 80’s and early 90’s consisting of 3 members. MC Serch (Michael Berrin), Prime Minister Pete Nice (Peter J. Nash), and DJ Richie Rich (Richard Lawson) were the three founding members of the group. Richie Rich was a local D.J., while Nice was an English major at Columbia University and hosted a hip hop show on Columbia’s student radio station, WKCR-FM. Serch performed at clubs and block parties, and released a single called “Hey Boy” on independent label Idlers.

[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/01-MC-Serch-Hey-Boy.mp3″ text=”MC Serch – Hey Boy!” dl=”0″]

Continue Reading After The Jump…

Record producer Sam Sever (real name Sam Citrin) convinced Nice and Serch to work together in 1987. Sever, Prince Paul, and The Bomb Squad produced their 1989 debut, The Cactus Album, a critically acclaimed LP that went gold and contained a minor hit in “The Gas Face.” The accompanying video, which featured a bevy of humorous cameo appearances that included Gilbert Gottfried, Flavor Flav, Salt-n-Pepa, and EPMD. Not only did the track have great guest appearances from other Hip Hop artists It also had the first appearance of the group KMD featuring a verse from rapper Zev Luv X (AKA MF DOOM). ‘The Gas Face’, garnered respectable MTV airplay and the single peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Top Rap Singles, though it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Cactus Album was released shortly after the Beastie Boys—riding high on the success of Licensed to Ill—walked out of their contract with the label. In addition to containing multiple potshots directed at M.C. Hammer (referred to as “M.C. Household Tool” in the liner notes), Cactus also attacked the Beastie Boys and their defection to Capitol Records.

One year after 3rd Bass’s debut ‘The Cactus Album’ they released a remix Album in September of 1990 called ‘the Cactus Revisited’. Out of a total seven tracks, it consists of six remixed songs and one unreleased song. Its remixes are by Prince Paul, Dave Dorrell, Marley Marl, and 3rd Bass itself, among others. this release served as a bridging gap between their 3rd release a year later.

[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/12-Product-Of-The-Environment.mp3″ text=”3rd BASS – Product Of The Environment (Original)” dl=”0″]
[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/06.-Product-Of-The-Environment.mp3″ text=”3rd BASS – Product Of The Environment (Marley Marl remix)” dl=”0″]

3rd Bass’s 1991 follow-up, Derelicts of Dialect, had a new target in fellow white rapper Vanilla Ice, who was the focal point of several tracks on the album, most notably “Pop Goes the Weasel”. The track depicted Ice as a culture thief who watered down the sound of rap in order to pander to a mainstream audience, while depicting 3rd Bass as more respectful of the genre’s traditions. Ice was also criticized for his refusal to credit artists whose music he had sampled for his 1990 smash “Ice Ice Baby.” The video featured punk rock icon Henry Rollins dressed up as Ice, who received a “beatdown” by 3rd Bass at the end.

Fueled by the heavy backlash against Vanilla Ice at the time of its release, “Pop Goes the Weasel” reached #1 on Billboard’s Top Rap Singles chart, gave the group their first and only Top 30 single (peaking at #29 on the Hot 100), and helped propel the album to gold status. The track was described by Allmusic as “much-needed damage control in the hip-hop community,” in part because it featured Caucasian rappers openly distancing themselves from one of their peers. Vanilla Ice answered back with ‘The Wrath’ and ‘Hit ’em Hard’ which he played at concerts in 1992, though the songs weren’t officially released until 1994.

3rd BASS’s final collaboration was the title track for the soundtrack to the movie ‘The Gladiator’ starring Cuba Gooding Jr and Brian Dennehy. In 1992 the group split and I could see why in a way the music video and the song on their last track aren’t my favorite at all, and it can be easily seen in their performance that they had grown tired of the group. The members went their separate ways and continued with other projects.

MC Serch went on to do various projects he released his solo album ‘Return Of The Product’ in August of 1992. Most notably on this album the fantastic track ‘Back To the Grill’ which featured Chubb Rock, Red Hot Lover Tone, and the second appearance on a track for a young Nasty Nas (Nas). Mc Serch had become Nas’s manager after approaching him in 1992 and securing him with a record deal with Columbia Records and went on to become the executive producer for Nas’s first solo Album ‘Illmatic’. Serch also helped produce a film in this time called ‘Zebrahead’ which also used Nas’s first solo release ‘Halftime’ on the soundtrack.

Serch then went on to do a little work for Wild Pitch Records. He formed his own Record label/ publishing company Serchlite which helped promote  the debut albums for Nas (Illmatic) and also O.C’s debut album ‘Word… Life’.  And helped the now split up group of Non Phixion in the early years. In 2000 Serch appeared in Spike Lee’s film ‘Bamboozled’ as part of a fictitious Hip Hop group called the  Mau Maus (click here to watch the video) with other notable performers like Mos Def, Canibus, Charli Baltimore and also actor Gano Grills ( HBO series Oz). Serch has gone onto present radio and TV shows in the last 10 years and is still active in the music industry.

After the break up Primeminister Pete Nice and DJ Richie Rich went onto release their own recording project ‘Dust to Dust’ in 1993. Two singles were released: “Rat Bastard” and “Kick The Bobo,” both apparent disses against former bandmate MC Serch. The video for “Rat Bastard” starts out as a recreation of a scene from the 1987 film The Untouchables, with Pete Nice beating an MC Serch lookalike to death with a baseball bat. This album also marks the professional debut of Indie Rap artist, Cage Kennylz.

Nice retired from the music business and opened a baseball memorabilia store in Cooperstown, New York. He published a book, Baseball Legends of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, under his real name in 2003, in addition to attempting to secure property for an official grave site of Negro League players. Nash also produced a documentary about the Rooters, with interviews filmed in an old gas station in Cooperstown that he was turning into a museum of baseball fan history stocked with much of the memorabilia he was gathering. In 2007 Nice, along with Dropkick Murphys member Ken Casey, opened McGreevy’s 3rd Base Saloon, a baseball history-themed sports bar, in Boston in April 2008.

DJ Richie Rich is where the trail went cold and I haven’t been able to find anything credible about his life after he retired from the music industry. Though there is some joker using the DJ’s name now but he plays some weak ass techno and house. So if anyone knows anymore about DJ Richie Rich post ‘Dust To Dust’ drop something in the comments box below.

Samples

Well now we have got to the usual part of the post I’m only gonna break down three tracks from these home boys. This is mainly due to the fact that they have some serious amount of sampling going on in their songs if i tried to do more than 3 you’d prob fall asleep and get a face full of keyboard. lets get to it.

The  Gas Face

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[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/04-Think.mp3″ text=”Aretha Franklin – Think” dl=”0″] ……………………………[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/The-Emotions-I-Like-It.mp3″ text=”The Emotions – I Like It” dl=”0″]

Pop Goes The Weasel

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[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Peter-Gabriel-Sledgehammer.mp3″ text=”Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer” dl=”0″] [wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/06-You-Havent-Done-Nothin.mp3″ text=”Stevie Wonder – U Haven’t Dun Nothin” dl=”0″]

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[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/07.-The-Who-Eminence-Front.mp3″ text=”The Who – Eminence Front” dl=”0″] [wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Disneyland-Records-Pop-Goes-the-Weasel.mp3″ text=”Disney Records – Pop Goes the Weasel” dl=”0″]

[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/08-Fred-Wesley-The-JBs-Damn-Right.-I-Am-Somebody-Parts-1-2.mp3″ text=”Fred Wesley & JB`s – Damn Right. I Am Somebody” dl=”0″]

[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/18-Steppin-To-The-A.M..mp3″ text=”3rd Bass – Steppin To The A.M.” dl=”0″]

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[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/banbarra-shack-up.mp3″ text=”Banbarra – Shack Up” dl=”0″] …………………[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/06.Mother-Earth.mp3″ text=”Kool & The Gang – Mother Earth” dl=”0″]

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[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/JAMES-BROWN-Stoned-to-the-Bone.mp3″ text=”James Brown – Stoned To The Bone” dl=”0″] …….[wpaudio url=”https://www.thewordisbond.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Pink-Floyd-Time.mp3″ text=”Pink Floyd – Time” dl=”0″]

Well that’s it for this one hope it was informative and enjoyable. Big up to 3rd Bass and if you have anything to add hit up the comments. Peace out.

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