3rd Bass was a rap group in the late 1980s and early 1990s, notable for being one of the first successful interracial rap groups.
3rd Bass: Career
MC Serch (Michael Berrin), Pete Nice (Mike Santilli), and DJ Richie Rich (Richard Lawson) were the three founding members of the group. Richie Rich was a local D.J., while Nice was a student at Columbia University and hosted a hip hop show on WKCR. MC Serch rapped at clubs and block parties and released a single called "Hey Boy" on Idlers, an independent record label.
Sam Sever, a producer, convinced Nice and Serch to work together in 1987. Sever, Prince Paul, and The Bomb Squad produced The Cactus Album (The Cee/Dee), a critically acclaimed debut LP.
As reported in many interviews, MC Serch at one point tried (unsuccessfully) to join the Beastie Boys. Upon signing to Def Jam, 3rd Bass inherited their label's feud with the Beasties. The Cactus Album was released shortly after the Beastie Boys walked out of their contract with the label (high on mega-success of Licensed to Ill). 3rd Bass' debut featured numerous derogatory remarks about the group and their defection to Capitol Records. The Beastie Boys retaliated on their early 1990s release Check Your Head. Their song "Professor Booty" takes a clear swipe at MC Serch's tendency to dance in 3rd Bass videos, with MCA's line "dancing around like you think you're Janet Jackson" clearly directed at him.
In 1991, 3rd Bass released Derelicts of Dialect, which included several tracks critical of fellow white rapper Vanilla Ice. One such track, "Pop Goes the Weasel", became the group's biggest chart single. It depicted Vanilla Ice as a culture thief who watered down the sound of rap while depicting 3rd Bass as more respectful of hip hop's traditions. The video for "Pop Goes the Weasel" featured alternative icon Henry Rollins parodying Vanilla Ice-receiving a "beat-down" at the hands of 3rd Bass at the end of the video. Pete Nice contributed his part of the beating with his trademark walking cane.
In 1992, 3rd Bass contributed the track "Gladiator" to the soundtrack of the 1992 movie of the same name. It was their last release together.
3rd Bass: Post-breakup
MC Serch went solo later that year and released Return of the Product, which included the second major label recording of Nas (credited in the liner notes as "Nasty Nas") and featured the single "Here it Comes." Meanwhile, Nice and Rich teamed up as Prime Minister Pete Nice & DJ Daddy Rich and released Dust to Dust in 1993. Their lead-off single, Rat Bastard, contained voice samples from the film, The Silence of the Lambs and was rumored to reflect bad blood between the pair and their former partner, Serch. The follow-up was "Kick the Bobo," which received light airplay on MTV and BET, but neither Nice nor Serch were able to achieve much popularity after 3rd Bass disbanded.
Around the time of the split, MC Serch was involved with the production of the movie Zebrahead. As recalled by Zebrahead's star, Michael Rapaport, MC Serch originally wanted to star in the film but was unable to secure the role. Serch ended up producing the film's soundtrack.
MC Serch worked at Wild Pitch, a now defunct record label, then founded Serchlite, a record label and publishing company responsible for signing another Caucasian New York City hip hop group, Non Phixion. MC Serch hosted the VH1 reality TV series, Ego Trip's The White Rapper Show, which aired from January 8 to February 26 in 2007.
Nice retired from the music business and opened a baseball memorabilia store in Cooperstown, New York, cited by some sources as the second largest collection open to public display aside from the official Baseball Hall of Fame. He released a book, Baseball Legends of Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, under his real name, Peter J. Nash. He has also been working to secure some property for an official gravesite of Negro League players.
3rd Bass: Reunion
In 1998, 3rd Bass reunited for a gig at Andy Hilfiger's (brother of Tommy Hilfiger) birthday party and performed at the 30th Anniversary Woodstock concert in Rome, New York. In 1999, they released a single titled Hail to the Chief. There had also been talks of a new album entitled Ichabod's Cranium, but any reunion and album plans have since been scrapped. |
