Song of the Day - 2/19/09

3rd Bass

"Derelicts Of Dialect"

Derelicts Of Dialect

1991

I know, I know, a "Song Of The Day" feature is launched in mid-January, and as of February 19 only three entries have been posted. Kinda sad, isn't it? Let's just chalk it up to some unforseen events which took priority and forced me to neglect my musical duties over the past few weeks. Rest assured, I'll make every attempt to get back to semi-regular entries here, particularly regarding this endeavor. On to today's entry...

The second album from white rap duo 3rd Bass, Derelicts Of Dialect, dropped (see, I can use the hip lingo the kids today!) in 1991, and was notable for the inclusion of what would become the group's best known song, the scathing anti Vanilla Ice (mostly) classic "Pop Goes The Weasel". The title track, which for all intents and purposes kicks off the album, has come up on several occasions recently during random shuffling on my iPod, and is today's Song of the Day.

A flute(!) kicks off the track, with a solid beat thumping behind, while a narrator voice matter-of-factly intones, presumably talking of the group, "The great will always soar, above the mediocre/they create, while others destroy". From there, we quickly settle into a clear example of 3rd Bass' style, alternating verses between Prime Minister Pete Nice and MC Serch, each of whom display vastly different vocal styles. The theme, which was repeated several times throughout the album, solidified how 3rd Bass considered themselves to be "authentic" rap, while the sudden commercial success of other acts like the aforementioned Vanilla Ice was nothing more than crass cashing in by less talented phonies. One favorite lyrical example is when MC Serch laments his uniqueness as a "white boy in New York who can't get a cab, G", a reference to the then rare site of a caucasian dressed in hip hop gear experiencing a problem of which other black males were well aware. A solid opening track to what would, sadly, be the last album from the group. (See below for the lyrics.)

The song closes with the narrator voice once more, providing what one can only assume is another assertion of 3rd Bass' cred, and further underscores that, to them, the credibility of their peers, as opposed to widespread commercial success, was paramount.

Check out the entire album, which contains many more hits than misses. Highly recommended.

The lyrics:
The great will always soar, above, the mediocre They create, while others destroy

[Pete Nice] Never had a wasted mind, had the time

Erectin rhyme I cause gifted lines

The flows I knows puts the papers in pockets

Swings of things, observed in my sockets

In ten spot I got stacks of LP wax

Couderoy slacks, loops and sales tax

On the racks but my label is Derelict

Spic-n-Span I slam, it's balls you lick

Ill missions, but doin us ain't even simple Stereotype the rhymer as a criminal

Subliminal I put a noose on the necks The sinister signs of my rhymes is sex ..

[MC Serch] Smooth, set-up so slick as I set to move, all the great masses

Asses bounce to track that is all in I'm droppin my quarter, I'm placin my call in

to my crew that's down with the street trends Play around and you'll fall off the deep end

I heard your hooker she likes to do knee-bends But I got a girl, so I called up three friends

And they called three friends (and I called three friends) And so on, and so on, and so on..

So go on my path, and try to follow but not step for step, cause I like to sidestep

You'll get swept like a broom and you'll make room for daddy

White boy in New York and I can't get a cab G

So take me to my rest so I guess I'll get wrecked cause I'm a derelict of dialect ..

[Pete Nice] Dialect spoken, in sectional lesson The less you know, the more you gotta guess on

I press on point, some sweat my jizznoint Playin themselves with the fingers the point

I speak slow, I carry a fat stick Get your kneepads and reapply your chapstick

Step to this, as the Derelict reanimates No jim hat as my mouth ejaculates

I stays mumble, I speaks jumble Phonetics on phonograph'll prime your petrol

Retroactive, my knot scale is tipped off I rip the head off, the Derelict stepped off

and left to show this, to those who typecast Ill the rhyme-ass trickster or outcast of intellect,

I wreck shit with my own sect The ace in the hole, I'm the Derelict of Dialect ..

[MC Serch] 3rd Bass, but not a bass for slidin

Foundation, for a nation who's mind is in motion, goin in fluid

Who did you just distrust? It's Serch and I crush this mental need for oppression

Oppressed and all vexed and just placed a suggestion

Lesson or loss enforce those in a spot who got your head frozen

Defrost the eye and spy on the serpent On act two, he tried to close curtain

But intermission I glimpsed and I clock more Derelicts watch act three and the encore ..

Individuals who are never satisfied with the static standards set by the masses -- the masses have always been lethargic They have always opposed greatness for it is beyond them to even.. comprehend greatness

3rd Bass page on Allmusic