First of all, let's put this into perspective. I don't believe there is just one definitive album of any genre of music. If there was, then life would be too easy, and we would just be flooded with carbon copies of that one record's blueprint & pretty much nothing else would bother to exist, and certainly nothing else would raise the bar for future artists of that genre. But there are real quality records of each genre that really nail down something of that genre, and this record is one of them.

But if you're going to pick one record that embodies all the anger and frustration of ghettoized black America and one that almost predicts the real life future of what the disenchanted feelings would resort to, you would have to plump for Ice Cube's second solo release, 'Death Certificate', back in 1991.

Split into two sides, the 'Death' side and the 'Life' side, it could be loosely described as a concept album. In his own words, the 'death' side was 'a mirrored image of where we are today' and the 'life' side 'a vision of where we need to go', and he implored all black listeners to sign their death certificate. To add direction, the first track on the 'death' side is a skit entitled 'The Funeral', and the opening skit on the 'life' side is 'The Birth'. True to his word, the first side finds Cube shot and delivered to the ER, after a 30 minute rollercoaster ride of running with his gang- the Lench Mob- casual gun fighting, sex and a spell at the STD clinic (he fits a lot into his life does the boy Cube). He dies after being neglected on a hospital trolley, although he has a second chance in the form of a rebirth given to him by the Nation of Islam, and that's where we start the life side of the album.

The next track was one of two that were removed from the UK release of the album at the time (some say because of the content & others say that it was just due to them not fitting onto the record). 'Black Korea' is 49 seconds of just pure hate, with Cube spitting "So don't follow me up and down your market/or your chop suey ass will be a target/ Pay respect to the black fist/Or we'll burn your store right down to a crisp/ And then we'll see ya/Cos you can't turn the ghetto into Black Korea".

Following this, 'True To The Game' is pretty much understated but a real Cube classic. Set to a sample of the Gap Band's 'Outstanding', it is Cube viciously attacking black celebrities who have made it & then move to white neighborhoods and forget about where they come from. Although he makes a point of saying that he mentions no names & that 'you know who you are', there were rumours at the time that the rapper in one of the verses he refers to was MC Hammer but I don't know how true that is (there were also suggestions that Eazy E, one of the members of NWA was in there too). The lyrics are unforgiving: "Get the hell out/Stop being an Uncle Tom, you little sell out/ House n***** scum/Give something back to the place where you made it from". He also uses one of the best lines of the album; "So back off genius/I don't need you to correct my broken English".

The best song is saved for last. Okay, so the album finishes with 'No Vaseline', the other track that was originally dropped from the UK release (it refers to what he'd like to see done to the other members of of NWA), but those of us who know this

Pictures of Death Certificate [PA] - Ice Cube

Amerikkka's Most Wanted

The most interesting thing is that it's in 'Us' that you can see that he was way ahead of the game even then, and that despite the doom & gloom presented throughout this album, there is something positive and hopeful in his introspection. Although the album is very much drawn along battle lines - and with the influence of the NOI, racial lines are always at the forefront- with its finale you are nevertheless left feeling as though things can change.

I think that 'Us' is the best song of Cube's career as well as being the best track on the album. It covers an entire range of social issues all in three and a half minutes and does it so eloquently. For all of Cube's anger and resentment at the world on this album, he has always been able to put his point across so strongly and very cleverly with his use of words - on 'Us' he reaches another level entirely.

'Death Certificate' is an album that isn't comfortable listening. It has lyrics that really do deserve the 'Parental Advisory - Explicit Lyrics' sticker that comes with it, and some of the content is most definitely bordering on 'hate crime' territory without shadow of a doubt. And the most interesting thing is that despite being released in 1991, the content hasn't magically been whisked away into some other land where its effect has you feeling "What was the fuss all about?" Listening to this record today is still an experience - you still shudder at particular points, and the content is still very much relevant today. It is no safer now than it was nearly fifteen years ago. It still sounds like an angry young man trying to make sense out of the world and yet with enough experience of it so far to want to vent his rage towards whatever target just happens to be there. For that, it is an intrinsic part of real life, and real hip hop.

'Death Certificate' is a superb hip hop album, and the power of it is possibly best put like this: normally a classic record occurs when artists tap into what's going on in the world and the people around them. 'Death Certificate' appears to be an album that was tapped into by the world and the people around the album itself. And that makes it pretty special.