Based balls were basically the first name for crack during it's intial years, circa 85-88. Crack first appeared on the streets of NYC in about 1985, although freebase was smoked prior to that, the addition of baking soda created a whole new monster. Based balls was what the "
Wild Cowboys" gang called their
first batch of potent crack to hit the street in large numbers.
The Wild Cowboys were a notorious gang based mainly in Washington Heights, Manhattan and parts of the South Bronx. Based balls were sold at many spots throughout both The Heights and in the Bronx. they usually came in large, cooked up rocks in vials sold for $20 and up. The reason they choose the name was because they resembled tinier sized baseballs
Crack known as "
Based Balls" was strictly a New York Ccity term, known mostly in Washington Heights. Although crack spread to all of the boroughs, and nationwide,
based balls was a name used solely by the infamous Cowboys to solidify their reign as crack kings of the 80's and early 90's.
Based Balls were first sold at 174th and
Audubon where the Wild
cowboys ruled the streets.
