3rd Bass

As the 1980s drew to a close, hip-hop welcomed the first wave of artists who had grown up with the culture as a fixture in their neighbourhoods, on their stereos, in the fabric of their lives. Like many of their contemporaries, 3rd Bass aimed to balance a reverence for the MCs and producers they idolised as kids with a relentless drive to push the genre forward. They presented a unique twist, however, as two of their three members, rappers MC Serch and Pete Nice, were white. Together with DJ Richie Rich, they scored an early hit in 1989 with “The Gas Face”, the video for which featured a cameo from a young MF DOOM. After two albums of animated, true-school boom-bap—1989’s The Cactus Album and 1991’s Derelicts of Dialect—the group parted ways. But Serch would remain a linchpin in New York hip-hop, securing record deals for groups like Non Phixion and helping introduce the world to a young artist by the name of Nas, who made his second major-label recording appearance on Serch’s “Back to the Grill”.