The Cactus Album, also known as The Cactus Cee/D, was the debut album by hip-hop trio 3rd Bass, released on Def Jam Recordings on October 23, 1989. The album received positive reviews from the hip hop press, and the group gained some publicity by being arguably the second white group to achieve hip hop credibility, after the Beastie Boys.

The Cactus Album peaked at #5 on Billboard's Top Hip Hop/R&B Albums chart and at #55 on the Billboard 200 chart. In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. A decade later, Rhapsody (online music service) included The Cactus Album in its list of "The 10 Best Albums By White Rappers".

Most of the music was produced by Sam Sever alongside members MC Serch and Pete Nice, except for the Prince Paul-produced tracks "The Gas Face" and "Brooklyn-Queens," and "Steppin' to the A.M." and "Oval Office" by The Bomb Squad. The album generally features songs that are lyrical showcases or are about women (such as the hidden sexual meaning of "Oval Office"). The song "Sons of 3rd Bass" can be viewed as a diss to the Beastie Boys (who had recently severed ties with 3rd Bass' record label, Def Jam) in that it references them in many lines such as this one uttered by MC Serch in the first verse.

MC Serch (born Michael Berrin on May 6, 1967^{[citation needed]}) is a Jewish-American hip hop MC and former member of 3rd Bass.

Serch grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, attending Far Rockaway High School, and graduated from Music & Art High School. He is credited with creating the slang term "the Gas Face."

After recording three albums with 3rd Bass—The Cactus Album (1989), Cactus Revisited (1990), and Derelicts of Dialect (1991)—Serch launched a solo career with Return of the Product (1992, Def Jam). The album featured two hit singles: "Here It Comes" (which hit #1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart); and "Back to the Grill" featuring Chubb Rock, Red Hot Lover Tone, and Nas. Serch was the executive producer of Nas’ Illmatic, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 1990s. He also helped to cultivate the rapper O.C. after hearing him on the Organized Konfusion song "Fudge Pudge," helping him secure a record contract with Wild Pitch Records. In 1995, Serch also mentored the newly formed Non Phixion.

Chubb Rock (born Richard Simpson on May 28, 1968 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a New York-based rapper who released several commercially successful hip hop albums in the early 1990s. A former National Merit Scholar, Chubb Rock was a pre-med student who dropped out of Brown University to pursue his musical career.

Discovered and produced by his first cousin DJ / Producer Howie Tee, Chubb Rock first appeared on the national scene with his 1988 self-titled debut "Chubb Rock" and 1989's "And the winner is..." The latter produced the minor hit "Ya Bad Chubbs" which garnered air play on Yo! MTV Raps during that time.

His 1991 release entitled The One, reached #13 on Billboard's "Top Hip-Hop/R&B" chart for that year. Three singles from that release, "Treat'em Right", "Just The Two Of Us" and "The Chubbster", made it to #1 on Billboard's "Top Rap Single" chart list for the same year.

The following year saw the release of I Gotta Get Mine Yo, a release which features guest performances from Grand Puba Maxwell and Poke. This release also helped fledgling music producers Trackmasters, on their rise to prominence, as they handled production duties on the recording. Chubb Rock also makes an appearance on MC Serch's 1992 song, "Back to The Grill."

Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for hosting The Arsenio Hall Show.

Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the talk show, Thicke of the Night. He was the winning contestant on NBC's reality show, Celebrity Apprentice 5, after defeating singer and American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken in the Celebrity Apprentice live finale.

Arsenio was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Fred and Anne Hall. His father is a Baptist minister. Hall performed as a magician when he was a child. He graduated from Warrensville Heights High School in Warrensville Heights, Ohio in 1973. After he graduated, he attended Ohio University, where he was on the speech team with Nancy Cartwright and Leon Harris. He then transferred to and graduated from Kent State University.

He later moved to Chicago, and then Los Angeles, to pursue a career in comedy, making a couple of appearances on Soul Train. In 1984, he was the announcer/sidekick for Alan Thicke during the short-lived talk show Thicke of the Night (a role for which he has on occasion noted his confusion with Monty Hall). Arsenio was the original voice of Winston Zeddemore in the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters from 1986–1987. In 1988, he co-starred in the comedy film Coming to America with Eddie Murphy.