Hard to believe it’s been 30 years since I made my first gas face. In honor of those 30 years, here are 30 facts about the song and the group.

(Important Note: I learned many of these nuggets from the book, Check the Technique Volume 2: More Liner Notes for Hip Hop Junkies by Brian Coleman. I highly recommend both it and Volume 1 for 80s and 90s hip hop aficionados.

Before 3rd Bass

1.     MC Serch turned down an opera singing scholarship to focus on rap.

2.    Pete Nice graduated with an English degree from Columbia.

3.    Before 3rd Bass, Serch’s day jobs included driving a truck for the USDA and driving a bus for a Jewish Yeshiva

4.    Nice played basketball at Columbia. Pete Nice took a total of two shots playing for
Columbia. Both were 3’s and he made one. 

5.    Nice blamed his “paper ankles” for derailing his college b-ball career. But not hooping gave him more time to work on the music. And of course, his ankles never got so bad that he needed the prop cane he carried around.

6.    You know who didn’t have paper ankles? MC Serch. He was known to get down on stage. According to DJ Daddy Rich, DJing during performances of “The Gas Face” and “Steppin to the AM” was challenging because Serch’s dancing would shake his turntables.

The Song Itself

7.  The piano sample at the beginning of each verse in “The Gas Face” is the intro to “Think” by Aretha Franklin.

8. The song was produced by De La Soul and Gravediggaz producer (and Stetsasonic DJ) Prince Paul.      

9. Pete Nice’s opening verse seems like a funny exaggeration of a shady record label, but according to Check the Technique Vol. 2's chapter on The Cactus Album, there’s some truth to it.

10.  Pete told Brian Coleman that he still had to work odd jobs after getting signed by Def Jam. He said 3rd Bass would swipe Slick Rick promo albums from the Def Jam office to sell on the street to buy pizza.

11.  The term and concept of the gas face were coined by guest rapper Zev Love X,

12.  The gas face was inspired by times when 3rd Bass and Zev would try to talk to girls. The dismissive looks girls sometimes gave became known as the “gas face”.

13. At the end of the song, Pete Nice expresses his wish that Hammer “Shut the ___ up.” And Serch unleashes an effusive gas face.

14. In the video, DMC and Jam Master Jay show up at the end to attack a giant hammer that’s wearing sun glasses. Not sure where Run was.  My best guess? Run’s house.

Other Disses   

15. 3rd Bass also dissed Hammer in the song “The Cactus”, with the lyric “The cactus turned Hammer’s mother out.”  According to the group, it’s actually this dis that prompted a death threat from Hammer that he contracted out through the Crips.

16. 3rd Bass found out about the death threat when they were on tour in LA. Russell Simmons asked Crips founder Mike Concepcion to cancel the hit. It doesn’t sound like it had been reported up to Concepcion’s office for approval, but he sure as hell had the power to call it off.    

17. There’s much I don’t know about the Crip’s organizational structure and work processes.

18. Serch says in the book that he believes Russell gave Concepcion tickets to the American Music Awards, sitting next to Michael Jackson, in exchange for vetoing their murder. If true, this is perhaps the greatest example of the awesome power of award shows.   

19. It seems weird that “The Cactus” is the song 3rd Bass blamed for all the drama. It may have been the title track, but wasn’t released as a single. And there were no video for it with a giant hammer getting knocked over in heavy rotation on Yo MTV Raps. Or video with Hammer’s mother being, uh, contacted, by a giant cactus.

20. Sometimes I wonder where that giant hammer is. Can I buy it on E-Bay? And if so, will Hammer put a contract out on me?

21. I also have to ask—do famous rappers always have a guy in their crew to listen to other rapper’s albums to check for hit-worthy disses tucked away in the deep cuts?  

22. 3rd Bass dissed the Beastie Boys on the song “Sons of 3rd Bass” It was the new Def Jam white guys dissing the old.

23. The story Serch tells in Check the Technique Vol. 2 is that he and Mike D met and were talking in Mike D’s apartment and were totally cool. Then when he went to leave, Mike started throwing things at him. Then Mike D told Spin Magazine about it. 3rd Bass saw the Spin article and wrote the dis.

24. The Beastie’s dissed 3rd Bass back on the track “Professor Booty”.  But It's not really a full attack, just MCA's verse that goes in on Serch.

Life After the Gas Face

25. Serch hosts a day time talk show. It’s called,….”Serch.”

26. Pete Nice is considered one of the pre-eminent expert on 19th century baseball memorabilia

27. Pete Nice is considered by some to be a pre-eminent crook. I’m not sure myself, but
I am sure the sports memorabilia biz is a putrid cesspool.  

28. Pete and Serch have had a rocky relationship but every now and then, there’s a 3rd Bass reunion. The last one was in 2013.

29.  After several years of trials and tribulations, including the death of his brother Subroc, Zev Love X reinvented himself as underground rap legend MF Doom. His career is still going strong. It’s hard to pick a favorite MF Doom song, but if I had to, I’d choose “Deep Fried Frenz” from the 2004 album Mm Food, or maybe “Fazers” from his King Geedorah album, or possibly “The Drop” from his Viktor Vaughn album. Like I said, it’s tough.

30. Doom does shows in a Dr. Doom mask. And sometimes other people show up in his place wearing the mask. The most famous doom impostor--Hannibal Burress.