Classic Hip Hop: Death Certificate

By 1990 Ice Cube had departed from the all star ensemble N.W.A. and did what many people thought was impossible and embarked on a successful solo career. His debut solo album Amerikkka’s Most Wanted was an instant platinum hit, along with the equally successful EP Kill at Will. In light of all of this success Cube was just getting started. Like his work with NWA, the subject matter of his solo debut was marred by controversy due to its subject matter and with the unveiling of his full length second album Death Certificate, Cube took controversy and offense to a whole new level.

“Damn it's a brand new payback

From the straight gangsta mack in straight gangsta black

How many motherfuckers gotta pay?

Went to the shelf and dusted off the AK

Caps gotta get peeled

Cause "The Nigga Ya Love to hate" still can "Kill at Will"

It ain't no pop cause that sucks

And you can New Jack Swing on my nuts

Down wit' the niggas that I bail out

I'm platinum, bitch, and I didn't have to sell out

"Fuck you, Ice Cube", that's what the people say

Fuck America, still with the triple K

'Cause you know when my nine goes buck

It'll bust your head like a watermelon dropped from twelve stories up

Now let's see who'll drop

Punk motherfuckers tryin' to ban hip-hop

Fuck R&B and the runnin' man

I'm the one that stand, with the gun in hand

Make sure before you buck wit' duck quick

Punk, 'cause I'm the wrong nigga to fuck with” - Ice Cube (The Wrong Nigga To Fuck Wit).

In 1991 things were really heating up for the coldest rapper in the game, Ice Cube. He had just made his film debut in the 1991 landmark film Boyz N The Hood from John Singleton and he had just completed his second full length album, Death Certificate. The purpose of Ice Cube’s second album was to be even more in-depth, candid and brutally honest than his first effort and with the new West Coast production of his cohorts Sir Jinx and DJ Pooh that is exactly what Cube brought to the table. Focusing on the plight of the Black community once more, Death Certificate criticizes the exploitation and degradation of the Black community caused by both African Americans as well as non-African Americans.

Fresh out of school cause I was a high school grad

Gots to get a job 'cause I was a high school dad

Wish I got paid like I was rappin' to the nation

But that's not likely so here's my application

Pass it to the man at AT&T

'Cause when I was in school I got the A-E-E

But there's no S-E for this youngsta

I didn't have no money so now I have to punch the

Clock like a slave, that's what be happenin'

But whitey says there's no room for the African

Always knew that I would clock G's

But welcome to McDonald's can I take your order please - Ice Cube (A Bird In The Hand).

This album also finds Cube to be more socially and politically charged as well due to his then new affiliation with the pro-Black organization the Nation Of Islam. With songs like “Alive On Arrival”, “A Bird In The Hand”, and “Man’s Best Friend”, Cube highlights the struggles of being a victim of crime in the Black community, enduring economic disadvantage and the right to bear arms, respectively. The album gets harsh with its aggressive criticism of race relations between Blacks and Whites as well as the Korean community with songs like “Horny Lil Devil”, “Black Korea” and True To The Game”.

“I wanna kill him, cause he tried to play me like the trick

But you see, I'm the wrong nigga to fuck with

I got the A to the motherfuckin K, and it's ready to rip

Slapped in my banana clip

And I'm lookin'

Is he in Watts, Oakland, Philly or Brooklyn?

It seems like he got the whole country behind him

So it's sort of hard to find him

But when I do, gotta put my gat in his mouth

Pump seventeen rounds make his brains hang out

Cause the shit he did was uncalled for

Tried to fuck a brother up the ass like a small whore

And that shit ain't fly

So now I'm settin up, the ultimate drive-by

And when you hear this shit

It make the world say "DAMN!", "I wanna kill Sam"” - Ice Cube (I Wanna Kill Sam).

With the album songs “I Wanna Kill Sam” and “The Wrong Nigga To Fuck Wit” Cube lashes out at the power structure of America taking aim at oppress government rituals and rogue law enforcement, the same likes of which were responsible for the brutal beating of motorist Rodney King that same year. Without a doubt, the most aggressive and controversial song on the album is the infamous diss track “No Vaseline” which was aimed at his former band mates of NWA and their manager Jerry Heller after they dissed Ice Cube on several songs on the second full length album due to Ice Cube’s departure from the group and his solo success.

“Damn I'm glad y'all set it off

Used to be hard now you're just wet and soft

First you was down with the AK

And now I see you on a video with Michel'le?

Lookin' like straight Bozos

I saw it comin' that's why I went solo

And kept on stompin'

When y'all motherfuckers moved straight outta Compton

Livin' with the whites, one big house

And not another nigga in site

I started off with too much cargo

Dropped four niggas now I'm makin' all the dough

White man just rulin'

The Niggas With Attitudes, who ya foolin'?

Y'all niggas just phony

I put that on my mama and my dead homies

Yella Boy's on your team, so you're losin'

Ay yo Dre, stick to producin'

Callin' me Arnold, but you been-a-dick

Eazy-E saw your ass and went in it quick

You got jealous when I got my own company

But I'm a man, and ain't nobody helpin' me

Tryna sound like Amerikkka's Most

You could yell all day but you don't come close

'Cause you know I'm the one that flowed

Ya done run 100 miles, but you still got one to go

With the L-E-N-C-H M-O-B, and y'all disgrace the C-P-T

'Cause you're gettin' fucked out your green by a white boy

With no Vaseline” - Ice Cube (No Vaseline).

In light of all the album’s harshness and aggression, it was not without humor and a tone of lightheartedness. The album songs “Doin Dumb Shit”, “Givin’ Up The Nappy Dugout”, “Look Who’s Burnin’” and “Steady Mobbin” are comedic and catchy tunes about mischievous young adulthood, hyper sexuality and the negative health effects that come with it and even just hanging out. The album was also not without personal accountability. The song “Color Blind” calls for unity between street gangs in Los Angeles and the most constructive criticism on the album comes in the form of the song titled “Us” in which Ice Cube candidly urges the Black community for the active role we play in the destructive of our community.

The impact of Death Certificate was massive. It was both critically and commercially more successful than its predecessor Amerikkkas Most Wanted, in that same respected the album steered up a lot more controversy and caught a great deal of criticism which led to uproar by the mainstream media. Due to the album’s brutally honest racial commentary Ice Cube was accused of being anti-white and anti-Semitic, many claims were also fueled by his affiliation to the Nation Of Islam. The song “Black Korea” also attracted heavy criticism for how it addressed the treatment of the Black community by Korean Store owners who set up shop in the Black community for capital gain. The song was heavily inspired by the death of Black teenager Latasha Harlins in Los Angeles who was shot by a Korean store owner after an altercation. Due to the offensive nature of it’s subject matter Death Certificate was banned in many places world wide and so were many of the products that were affiliated with Ice Cube.

For me personally, Death Certificate is the hardest and toughest album in Hip Hop history. It’s definitely one of my top two favorite Ice Cube albums as well as one of my favorite albums in music history period because of the consciousness of its subject matter and Ice Cube’s delivery. The album actually shocked me with how aggressive it was when I was younger and because of that it made me listen to it more. With Ice Cube being my top favorite rapper of all time as well as one of my inspirations for being a writer, this album is the most defining example of how he influenced me as a writer. In the three decades since it was first released Death Certificate has inspired many Hip Hop legends such as Tupac Shakur, Nas and Kendrick Lamar. The album also elevated Ice Cube and remains one of the greatest Hip Hop Albums of all time.

“When I do a show to kick some facts

Us Blacks don't know how to act

Sometimes I believe the hype, man

We mess it up ourselves and blame the white man

But don't point the finger you jiggaboo

Take a look at yourself ya dumb nigga you

Pretty soon hip-hop won't be so nice

No Ice Cube, just Vanilla Ice

And y'all sit and scream and cuss

But there's no one to blame, but US”-Ice Cube (Us).