Editing 3rd Bass (section)

== Career ==
[[MC Serch]] (Michael Berrin), [[Pete Nice|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 music|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" (b/w "Beware of the Death") on independent label Idlers.

The two first performed as '3 the Hard Way', a name referred to in the song "Wordz of Wisdom" but later redubbed themselves '3rd Bass' before recording their first album. Sam Sever, [[Prince Paul (producer)|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."<ref name="AllMusic Cactus">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-cactus-album-mw0000202624 |title=The Cactus Album – 3rd Bass |website=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=September 10, 2016 |last=Swihart |first=Stanton}}</ref> The accompanying video, which featured a bevy of humorous cameo appearances that included a then-unknown [[MF Doom]], [[DJ Subroc]], [[Gilbert Gottfried]], [[Flavor Flav]], [[Salt-n-Pepa]], [[Kid 'N Play]] and [[EPMD]], garnered respectable MTV airplay and the single peaked at #5 on Billboard's [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Top Rap Singles]], though it did not chart on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. The video also contained insults aimed at rapper [[MC Hammer]] and record executive [[Lyor Cohen]].

As reported in many interviews, Serch had tried (unsuccessfully) to join up with fellow New Yorkers the [[Beastie Boys]].{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} Upon signing with [[Def Jam]], 3rd Bass inherited their label's feud with the Beasties. ''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.<ref name="Year">{{cite web|author=Stereo Williams|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-year-that-changed-hip-hop-forever|title=The Year That Changed Hip-Hop Forever|publisher=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=February 28, 2018|access-date=November 24, 2019}}</ref> 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]] in the song "Sons of 3rd Bass."

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 (3rd Bass song)|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 only Top 30 single (peaking at #29 on the Hot 100), and helped propel the album to [[Music recording sales certification|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.<ref name="allmusic">[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p50061|pure_url=yes}} 3rd Bass Biography] – Allmusic.com</ref> Vanilla Ice answered back with 'The Wrath' and 'Hit 'em Hard' which he played at concerts in 1992, though the songs were not officially released until 1994.

3rd Bass's final collaboration was the title track to the soundtrack of the 1992 film ''[[Gladiator (1992 film)|Gladiator]]'' before the group called it quits. That same year—three years after ''The Cactus Album''—the Beastie Boys retaliated against 3rd Bass on ''[[Check Your Head]]''; the track "Professor Booty" contained the lyric "dancing around like you think you're [[Janet Jackson]]," which was interpreted as a swipe at Serch's dancing in 3rd Bass's videos.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}