Ice Cube Album: “Death Certificate [PA]”

Description :

Personnel includes: Ice Cube (rap vocals). Producers: Sir Jinx, Ice Cube, The Boogie Men. Includes liner notes by Alan Light. Once a member of N.W.A., Ice Cube has consistently put out hits and, throughout his music and film career, has remained admired by the hip-hop community. Rough and rugged, but true and to the point, only Ice Cube can address certain issues facing black, urban America, and he does just that on DEATH CERTIFICATE. DEATH CERTIFICATE is co-produced by Ice Cube with the help of The Boogie Men and Sir Jinx, and the beats they come up with are hard, funky and fast, resembling Cube's own energy. George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" is revived through "My Summer Vacation" and, along with Cube's threatening lyrics, gives the track a funky, gangsta-party appeal. Ice Cube sums up his values and way of life on the single, "Steady Mobbin'": "Bustin' caps in the mix/Rather be judged by twelve than carried by six." "Look Who's Burnin'" is a story on the results of sexually-transmitted diseases; and though the lyrics are harsh, the song relays a positive message of the need to practice safe sex. In "True To The Game," Ice Cube lets all sell-outs know that there's no room in his world for those who crossover. Uncensored and raw, DEATH CERTIFICATE is life and death through the eyes of an artist who has seen his share of both.

It is hard to say if DEATH CERTIFICATE or AMERIKKKA'S MOST WANTED is Ice Cube's best album.

This album has so many good tracks on it I probably could list them all -- some are: "Wrong N**** to F*** Wit", My Summer Vacation", "Steady Mobbin'", "Man's Best Friend" (one of the 1st tracks to sample George Clinton's "Atomic Dog"), and "Bird in the Hand".

This album has great funk-induced beats (that was popular in 1990's rap), and Ice Cube covers several issues of that time in the album.

It is an essential album, but the material may seem dated for the youngin's.

Has to be one of the top ten lps of all time in hip hop along with "Amerikkka's Most Wanted".

"NO VASELINE" pretty much ended N.W.A. as a group and is probably one of the most vicious comeback/rap battle songs of all time. If you listen closely to the lyrics of that song, he individually took each member of N.W.A. and basically cut them down to size by basically telling the truth. With the exception of M.C. REN, lyrically N.W.A. was finished after CUBE rolled out. DR. DRE'S production kept them afloat on EFIL4ZAGGIN but that's about it.

I love this album! This was a classic in the early nineties and it's even more of a classic now. My favorite song is "A Bird In A Hand". I also believe it was his best rhyme. His style started to change after Predator but from Predator back CLASSIC albums.

This album is arguably 'Cube's finest (AMW afficionado's will digress), being conceptually, lyrically, and musically even tighter than his solo debut (hard to believe but true). This album was the first 'gangsta' rap album I purchased serving as an introduction to the genre as a whole (a good choice as it turned out, Cube is a lyrical giant). As vulgar as Cube's lyrics often become, they are almost always insightful, making the sentiments expressed in this album complex: neither entirely commendable or condemnable. That said, I believe 'Death Certificate' to be one of the great hip-hop albums with some of the best music (courtesy of Sir Jinx) and lyrics (A Bird in the Hand, Us, Color Blind) ever put on wax. Sadly, 'Cube would never make a statement this forceful again.