Death Certificate [PA] - Ice Cube

...limits. His 1991 sophomore album Death Certificate soon followed and continued the trent. Many believe that Ice Cube's glory days are far behind him, however, and it's those old school days that I am going to examine here...

Upon first glance at Death Certificate, you will notice that the album is basically two albums cut in half, put together. The concept is very creative, and very unique, specially around the early 90s when hip-hop ...
...to say... at least on Death Certificate. He decides to drop socially conscious, political street poetry on "A Bird in the Hand". Cube uses a mixture of storytelling and street-smart narratives to tell us a tale about his youth, attacking the I.R.S., politicians, racist government officials, and even the President himself (who was George Bush Sr. at the time). The main argument here is black oppression, which is something Cube has excelled ... more

Ice Cube is hailed as one of the greatest rappers alive, and its not hard to see why. Ice Cube has been an emcee for over 12 years, and given us tons of hit records. Ice Cube first appeared alongside Easy E, Dr. Dre, and MC Ren in the late 80s with west coast hip-hop pioneers N.W.A. (N*ggas with Attitudes). Ice Cube was quickly thrown into the forefront of the group due to his incredible song-writing skills and powerful, aggressive lyrics. After some problems with the group, Cube went solo and dropped his seminal debut album AmeriKKKas Most Wanted. His powerful lyrics never ceased to push the envelope and push the racial boundaries to their limits. His 1991 sophomore album Death Certificate soon followed and continued the trent. Many believe that Ice Cube's glory days are far behind him, however, and it's those old school days that I am going to examine here...

Upon first glance at Death Certificate, you will notice that the album is basically two albums cut in half, put together. The concept is very creative, and very unique, specially around the early 90s when hip-hop was just beginning to slowly grow. Ice Cube has split this album into two parts. The first part is entitled "Death", which is basically Ice Cube's aggressive, powerful lyrics and street smart narratives which will send chills down your spine. The second part is "Birth", where Ice Cube takes a much more intelligent, thought-out view on his life, as well as the street life. Besides that, he takes time to examine several issues such as politics and social consciousness. I will begin the review by examining it in order, which means "Death" is first.

Ice Cube starts off with the venomous lashing out of lyrics on "The Wrong N*gga To F*ck Wit". This is exactly what i was speaking about: Raw, Aggressive, Angry, Ice Cube lyrics, backed by a powerful voice to make them that much stronger. This track is basically aimed at starting controversy on purpose, continuing the intelligent, yet powerful message that he planted seeds for on AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted. Ice Cube screams anger at his critics, as well as those who had a "problem" with his honest lyrics. With lines like: "And watch the devil start kickin, Run around like a chicken, grand dragon finger lickin, Yo, turn him over wit a spatula, Now we got, Kentucky Fried Cracker". One would think that Ice Cube is racist due to his constant bashing of "white power", but one must understand that Ice Cube has felt racial frustration during his life and is merely expressing his point of view. Ice Cube is far from being a racist, but i understand his hatred for "the powers that be".

We continue with the single "My Summer Vacation". This track is not only an angry, street-influenced screamfest, but it's also a well-crafted narrative and story about society's decay, as Cube tells us a flipped out story about a drive-by shooting and murder on a holiday. Inside of this underlining message, Ice Cube takes time to mock the idiocy of the police department, pointing the finger at the racist cops. Cube continues to be an angry, political monster on this track. Production-wise, its similar to the last track: they both have hard claps and simple basslines at an even-tempo. Definitely fits with Cube's rugged delivery.

"Givin' Up the Nappy Dug Out" finds Ice Cube straying away from anti-police, anti-white politics and focusing more on introspective, social commentary. Featuring a funk-inspired, uptempo beat, Cube raps about a serious issue, even though the song appears to make a mockery of itself. Ice Cube uses his ghetto storytelling skills to rap to a concerned parent about his underaged daughter who transformed into a hood rat and prostitute. Ice Cube chronicles how the girl went from having "straight As" to having sex every night and skipping school. Some of the song sounds serious, but at the end of the second verse, Ice Cube reveals that he is ALSO having sex with his daughter, and thats when you come to realize that this song is a joke (the condom raps at the end), with an underlining message. Classic.

A perfect follow-up comes with "Look Who's Burnin'". On this track, Ice Cube gives us another underlining message about the infestation of Sexually Transmitted Diseases infecting black males in the suburbs. Ice Cube raps in storytelling mode once again about the situation, focusing on one female herself. To be honest, alot of the lines had me laughing my head off, rewinding them to hear it again. One in particular is the ever famous: "You shoulda put a sock on the pickle, and your p*ssy wouldn't be blowin smoke signals, Man, this is gonna kill 'em, Guess who got a big fat dose of penicillin?". Funny, but there is also an underlining message, which shows Cube's true talent. The KRS-One sample and powerful drum loops and saxophone set the musical tone for this classic track.

Cube might be funny, but he will ALWAYS have something relevent to say... at least on Death Certificate. He decides to drop socially conscious, political street poetry on "A Bird in the Hand". Cube uses a mixture of storytelling and street-smart narratives to tell us a tale about his youth, attacking the I.R.S., politicians, racist government officials, and even the President himself (who was George Bush Sr. at the time). The main argument here is black oppression, which is something Cube has excelled at since his N.W.A. days. Over a scratch-influenced, metallic drum beat, Cube spits: "Now I remember I used to be cool, till I stopped fillin' out my W-2, Now senators are gettin' hired, and your plan against the ghetto backfired".

The rest of the tracks on the "death" side of the album are all awesome, but now i will move on to the second half of the album, "birth", where some of Cube's best work in his career lies. This kicks off with "I Wanna Kill Sam", which is one of Cube's most political and angry songs in his career. Ice Cube aims his powerful voice at the white house itself (its obvious that "Sam" in the title is "Uncle Sam" a.k.a. the government), and snipes them clean. There really isn't much i could say here except the fact that Cube is a powerhouse lyrically here, dropping menacing blows towards the US and "the powers that be", blaming them for thousands of black problems and the plague of racism in America. This song is definitely disturbing and touches on some VERY controversial topics. Cube DOES indeed instill fear into what he calls "White AmeriKKKa" with lines like: "Now in ninety-one, he wanna tax me, I remember, the son of a b*tch used to axe me, and hang me by a rope til my neck snapped, Now the sneaky motherf*cker wanna ban rap, and put me under dirt or concrete, But God, can see through a white sheet, Cause you the devil in drag, You can burn your cross well I'll burn your flag".

Cube calms down a tad bit on "True to tha Game". Production-wise, we get a very much different type of beat than what is normally found on this album. Instead of the powerful claps and energenic, fast tempo basslines, we get a laid-back, more funkish, slower-tempo song. Cube himself decides to chill out a little bit, even though its just a mask for his true underlining message: This track is a diss towards his former N.W.A. buddies whom he was beefing with. He mocks the fact that they sold out to the mainstream audience and lost their true street credibility and honesty found when Cube was in the group. He calls them "Oreo Cookies", basically saying that they are black on the outside and white on the inside, which is quite clever. Dope Track.

Ice Cube shows off more of his social commentary with the creative, yet aggressive "Us". Cube gets a bit harsher on here, touching on the idiocy that the modern era of those in the black community have, rapping about the poison inside of the black youths nowadays, as well as the plague of welfare, jealousy, pregnancies, sex, and selfishness. Ice Cube does an excellent job at explaining the black society's ills in an intelligent and poetic way. Definitely one of the most eye-opening tracks of the album.

Death Certificate comes to close with one of the most destructive and venomous tracks in Ice Cube's career: "No Vaseline". After getting dissed by his former group members, Cube lashes out with some of his most well-written, embarrassing, and devilish lyrics to ever be concieved by a human being. Cube decides to touch on everything from Dre's lack of rapping skills, to Ren's lack of funds, to the N.W.A.'s recent sell-out-style of rapping, Jerry Heller's manipulation behind the scenes, and Eazy E's constant "b*tchmoves". Honestly, this is one of the best diss tracks I have ever heard, as we never find Cube slip up once on the track, showing that he truly was the heart of the group and that they were lost without him. Fear Cube... Fear him.

Ice Cube's sophomore album Death Certificate is, and always will be, a classic and one of the best albums of Ice Cube's career. It is very rare to find an album this powerful with this much variety and intellect. Ice Cube might be an angry black man, but you will find that he is very smart and makes each point count. Ice Cube is not only smart, but powerful. In fact, powerful enough that those without an open mind will find a lot to fear on Death Certificate. After this album, Cube continued and dropped more numerous albums (though not as good as his older work), and starred in hit movies such as Barbershop, Friday, and Three Kings. However, Ice Cube's true love will always be hip-hop, and this album says it all. Classic in every sense of the word...  

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