| Death Certificate | ||||
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| Studio album by Ice Cube | ||||
| Released | October 29, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Genre | West Coast hip hop, gangsta rap, hardcore rap, political hip hop | |||
| Length | 61:08 | |||
| Label | Priority/EMI Records 0499 2 57155 2 7 P2-57155 7243 5 43341 2 2 P2-43341 (2003 remaster) 50999 6 42635 2 6 P2-42635 (2010 remaster) |
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| Producer | Sir Jinx Ice Cube Boogiemen |
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| Ice Cube chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Death Certificate | ||||
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Death Certificate is the second studio album by American rapper Ice Cube, released October 29, 1991 on Priority Records. Highly anticipated with over one million advanced orders,[1] the album was certified platinum in sales on December 20, 1991.[2] The album sold 105,000 copies in its first week an debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at #2, and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at #1, while it eventually went on to sell 1,600,134 copies.[3][4] Due to some of its racially charged content, and Ice Cube's acerbic statements on drug dealing, racial profiling, and the right to keep and bear arms, Death Certificate was the source of much controversy upon its release.
In 2003, Priority Records re-released Death Certificate with the bonus track "How to Survive in South Central," which originally appeared on the Boyz n the Hood soundtrack.
Contents |
The recording and writing for Death Certificate began in early 1991, and carried on throughout most of the year. While making the album, Ice Cube was also heavily involved in several other projects, including Yo-Yo's Make Way for the Motherlode, his younger cousin Del tha Funkee Homosapien's I Wish My Brother George Was Here, and perhaps more importantly, his first film debut, Boyz n the Hood, which he co-starred with Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Laurence Fishburne. Similar to AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, Ice Cube was very active in the album's production, though the overall sound differed. Unlike AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, which featured The Bomb Squad's hard edged beats, Death Certificate featured a slightly more West Coast-oriented sound in comparison, with heavy use of 70's Funk, and Soul samples. A number of the tracks also use samples taken from acts such as Zapp (Ohio), and Fishbone (California).
While making Death Certificate, Ice Cube was said to be affiliated with the Nation of Islam, which had a large impact on the majority of the album's content, although he has denied being part of the organization. Death Certificate was roughly organized as two thematic elements of a larger whole, and opens with Cube's explanation: "The Death Side: a mirror image of where we are today; The Life Side: a vision of where we need to go." The first half, therefore, is replete with the tales of drug dealing, whore-mongering and violence expected of a gangsta rap album in 1991. The second half provided somewhat of a synthesis between that genre and the type of prescriptive messages more often found from artists wholly divorced from the gangsta image.
Both sides, however, provide a more introspective and encouraging outlook that fits with the common conception of gangsta rap. The Death Side's "A Bird in the Hand" laments a young man's slide into a life of drug-dealing after finding that the best jobs available to him with little education and a jail record simply won't pay the bills.
There is no shortage of nihilistic or, at least, criminal posturing either, with the Life Side's "Black Korea" threatening rioting and arson alongside Black entrepreneurship as a response to the preponderance of Korean grocery stores in ghettos across the United States. The track was seen as a response to the death of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old African American girl who had been shot by a Korean store owner on March 16, 1991 because the owner erroneously thought Harlins was trying to steal a bottle of orange juice. Since the release of the track preceded the Los Angeles Riots, in which many of the people targeted were of Korean descent, Ice Cube was accused of inciting racism by some groups.
The track "Look Who's Burnin'" tells of the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases in low income neighborhoods, while "Alive on Arrival" tells the story of a young man caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout who slowly bleeds to death while in a hospital waiting room, being questioned by police. "Color Blind" preaches neutrality and brotherhood between gangs, such as the Bloods and Crips. Although Ice Cube's previous album avoided direct attacks on N.W.A, Death Certificate contained "True to the Game" and most notably "No Vaseline," which were "diss track's" aimed at his former band mates.
Unlike Ice Cube's other albums, Death Certificate was not released in a censored version. The tracks "Steady Mobbin'," "True To The Game," and "Givin' Up The Nappy Dug Out," were, however, recorded with clean lyrics and released for airplay.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [5] |
| The Austin Chronicle | [6] |
| Robert Christgau | (C+)[7] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (A-)[8] |
| Los Angeles Times | (favorable)[9] |
| The New York Times | (favorable)[10] |
| Rolling Stone | (mixed) (1991)[11] |
| Rolling Stone | (2004)[12] |
| The Source | [13] |
| The Washington Post | (favorable)[14] |
Allmusic calls Death Certificate "even harder and angrier than AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted... It continues the sharp insights and unflinching looks at contemporary urban lifestyles that his solo debut only hinted at; in short, it's hardcore without any gangsta posturing." They also call it "funkier, noisier, and more musically effective (than AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted)." Initially giving a four-and-a-half out of five "mic" rating,[13] The Source gave the album a five "mic" rating in a retrospective list of "5 Mic Hip-Hop Classics" with its 150th issue.[15]
Death Certificate received a meager $18,000 promotion budget, and neither of its singles received much airplay, although the album's two singles, "Steady Mobbin'" and "True to the Game," received music video treatment.[16]
In 1992, as a result of the album's controversy, the state of Oregon declared any display of Ice Cube's image in retail stores throughout the state illegal. This ban also included advertisements for St. Ides Malt Liquor, which Ice Cube endorsed at the time.[23] In the September 2006 issue of FHM, Ice Cube stated in an interview that he did not regret the controversial statements made on the album. Regarding the offense caused to Koreans, he said, "If there's still a problem, it's their problem." Due to fear that laws against racial incitement in the United Kingdom could see the album banned, the United Kingdom release removed the tracks "Black Korea" and "No Vaseline." Island Records, the distributor of this version of the album, deleted these tracks with the consent of Priority Records, but not Ice Cube himself.[16] However, these tracks do feature on this album in the present day.
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Samples | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Funeral" | *Intro* | Sir Jinx | 1:37 | |
| 2 | "The Wrong Nigga to Fuck Wit" | Ice Cube | Ice Cube, Sir Jinx |
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2:48 |
| 3 | "My Summer Vacation" | Ice Cube | Boogiemen, Ice Cube |
|
3:56 |
| 4 | "Steady Mobbin'" | Ice Cube | Boogiemen, Ice Cube |
|
4:10 |
| 5 | "Robin Lench" | *interlude* | Boogiemen, Sir Jinx |
1:13 | |
| 6 | "Givin' Up the Nappy Dug Out" | Ice Cube | Boogiemen, Ice Cube |
|
4:15 |
| 7 | "Look Who's Burnin'" | Ice Cube | Ice Cube, Sir Jinx |
|
3:53 |
| 8 | "A Bird in the Hand" | Ice Cube | Boogiemen, Ice Cube |
|
2:17 |
| 9 | "Man's Best Friend" | Ice Cube | Boogiemen, Ice Cube |
|
2:06 |
| 10 | "Alive on Arrival" | Ice Cube | Boogiemen, Ice Cube |
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3:11 |
| 11 | "Death" | Khalid Muhammad | Ice Cube |
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1:03 |
| 12 | "The Birth" | Khalid Muhammad | Ice Cube, Sir Jinx |
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1:21 |
| 13 | "I Wanna Kill Sam" | Ice Cube | Ice Cube, Sir Jinx |
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3:22 |
| 14 | "Horny Lil' Devil" | Ice Cube | Boogiemen, Ice Cube |
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3:42 |
| 15 | "Black Korea" | Ice Cube | Ice Cube, Sir Jinx |
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0:46 |
| 16 | "True to the Game" | Ice Cube | Ice Cube, Sir Jinx |
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4:10 |
| 17 | "Color Blind" | Ice Cube, Deadly Threat, Kam, The Madd Circle, King Tee, J-Dee |
Boogiemen, Ice Cube |
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4:29 |
| 18 | "Doing Dumb Shit" | Ice Cube | Boogiemen, Ice Cube |
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3:45 |
| 19 | "Us" | Ice Cube | Ice Cube, Sir Jinx |
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3:43 |
| 20 | "No Vaseline" | Ice Cube | Ice Cube, Sir Jinx |
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5:15 |
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| Year | Album | Chart positions | |
| Billboard 200 | Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | ||
| 1991 | Death Certificate | #2 | #1 |
| Year | Song | Chart positions | |||
| Billboard Hot 100 | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | Hot Rap Singles | |||
| 1991 | "Steady Mobbin'" | — | #30 | #3 | |
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