Bass
· Acoustic. Low-frequency sound — in music, the register below middle C that provides harmonic
foundation and physical impact. Bass is felt as much as heard; it is the register that communicates through the
body before the mind processes it.
West
· Geographic. The American West Coast — California specifically — as the site of hip-hop's second major
regional transformation: the development of G-funk, West Coast rap, and a production aesthetic built on slow
tempos, deep sub-bass frequencies, and the particular sonic landscape of Los Angeles.
The Bass West
adj. Of or pertaining to the low-frequency-centered production aesthetic developed on the
American West Coast — characterized by extended sub-bass frequencies, slow-rolling tempos, and the physical
weight of sound designed to be experienced in a car rather than a club.
n.(a The Bass West) (a Bass West) The specific production sensibility of West Coast
hip-hop and its derivatives — a sound architecture built from the bottom up, in which the sub-bass frequency is
the primary structural element around which all other sonic decisions are organized.