3rd Base

3rd Bass, the only other white MC's of Hip Hop to achieve props from both Hip Hop heads and critics, replaced the Beastie Boys at Def Jam. Hailing from Far Rockaway Queens, bespectacled MC Serch had paid his dues battling in the legendary Latin Quarter, recording with Grand Wizard Tony D, and apprenticing as a roadie and ghostwriter for Whodini. Paired with cigar-smoking, can-waggling Pete Nice and DJ Richie Rich, the group dropped a minor classic in 1989's The Cactus Album later named one of the The Source's 100 Greatest Albums of All-Time. 3rd Bass' heyday dovetailed with rap's Afrocentric era, which earned them scorn from xenophophic X Clan. Their response record, "3 Strikes 5000, was relatively tame, but proved that they weren't suckers. Besides X Clan was in the minority Nice and Serch proved that white MC's could hang, provided they demonstrated the requisite appreciation of Hip Hop culture. The group was also notable for sparking the first white MC vs. white MC beef, with "Pop Goes The Weasel," which all but burned Vanilla Ice in effigy. Granted, Nice and Serch had obliquely sniped at the Beastie Boys on their previous record, but that was comparatively timid Ice was their real bête noire, an interloper crashing a party which they'd worked tirelessly to wrangle an invitation.