Which is to say, O'Shea was that motherfucker to everyone else.
As we've seen with so many other artists, a change in scenery is sometimes all it takes to create brilliance, and that was exactly the case for Ice Cube. After taking advantage of the East Coast's response to the West Coast sound with Bomb Squad production (don't take that the wrong way, the Bomb Squad were, and still are, the shit), he decided he might as well touch down back in California to see how the real thing would sound. His sophomore effort featured instrumentals provided by The Boogie Men (a three-man team made up of DJ Pooh, Bobcat, and Rashad), Dr. Dre's cousin Sir Jinks, and he even got behind the boards himself. The result was a more layered, dense soundscape, but one that would also sound angrier than his debut. And that's not a small feat, let's remember that the in-your-face nature of Amerikkka's Most Wanted was a revelation for its time.
Ice Cube proved that no press is bad press, as it sold over a million copies, and even though you'll get the occasional fan in favor of his debut, it is usually cited as his masterpiece. Ice Cube would never again be able to replicate the same rage, and translate it into quality songs. That's probably for the best, as his shtick would become awfully tiresome after continued releases, but our host made the most of his anger while it counted, and its my pick for Greatest West Coast Album Ever. I'm not telling you its my favorite (it is, but there's a difference), I'm telling you its the best, and that's a claim I'll most likely stick to for the foreseeable future.
Now, I'll explain why...
1. The Funeral
Oh shit, almost forgot. Death Certificate is somewhat of a concept album, based upon two sides: The Death Side and The Life Side. Just like on AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, it starts off with a dark intro, a funeral, where he introduces the death side: a mirror image of where we are today. It adds a cinematic value, and even though I don't care for these things, I couldn't think of a better way for Cube to kick things off. Notice that a running theme in these classic reviews is that the intros aren't completely useless. Take notes, guys.
2. The Wrong Nigga To Fuck With
Though not as good as "The Nigga You Love To Hate", this song signifies a change of tone in our host, and even though it might just be an amplified version of the initial tone, its a progression, nonetheless. Cube spits flames over an explosive, yet funky punch in the mouth of a beat, but I doubt you'll even notice, because the only thing going through your head when this is over is, "oh my fuck, he's pissed!" Its raw aggression, but he remains composed enough to get his message across without sounding like an idiot. It might take you a second to adjust, but this was quite the introductory track.
3. My Summer Vacation
For whatever reason, I wasn't impressed by this song the first few times I heard it, but I guess it eventually clicked because this is one of my favorite songs on the album now. The first thing this attempts to do is let you know that the Bomb Squad are no longer in charge, as made clear by the heavy P-Funk instrumental, and I must say that it succeeds in that regard. Cube himself proves why so many people call him hip hop's most underrated storytellers (at this point, he isn't even close to underrated), as he weaves his words into a story about him and his friends going on a drug dealing trip to St. Louis. The end of the songs features a display of police brutality, as one of the cops say he's going to beat him like Rodney King, which is one of the main reasons for the fuss surrounding the album's release. A powerful social message that I'm sure many cops were touched by.
4. Steady Mobbin'
One of Cube's more famous singles, which has remained popular thanks to reoccurring uses, including when Prince Paul put it on his Prince Among Thieves album. Unsurprisingly, this still sounds great today. Listening now, though, it blows my mind that this ever gained much publicity. The instrumental sounds flat out mean, and nothing our host say is even remotely radio-friendly. Especially when he says that his ejaculate shoots out of his penis like pieces of confetti. Might want to get that checked out.
5. Robin Lench
As a parody of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, this is admittedly kind of stupid, but it usually makes me laugh, so that's enough for me to not get annoyed.
6. Givin' Up the Nappy Dug Out
Probably the most misogynistic song ever recorded, and if you're a female, I can pretty much guarantee you right now that you'll be somewhat offended. But, if you look at it in context and from a male perspective, it's still offensive as shit, but you'll also see the point Cube is trying to get across: he's not allowed to hang around certain girls because of his skin color and, well, he's fucking pissed. In a kind of genius way, he replicates the instant thought process going through the head of a teenager that had just recently been turned down. The following skit is also nicely placed.
7. Look Who's Burnin'
The previous condom commercial segues into "Look Who's Burnin'", a song that should be played in Sex-Ed classes throughout the world. Ice Cube goes on for a verse about the detriments of not using protection before going into yet another rant against a girls who refused to fuck him, but ended up with several STDs after giving it up to other guys. The instrumental isn't all that engaging, but our host's message is still relevant if you're willing to look past his rough delivery.
8. A Bird In the Hand
One of, if not my favorite songs on the entire album, and probably the best beat Cube ever rhymed over. I already stated how much I admire his storytelling, but this is the song where the rest of the world started to put him near the top. In just two minutes, Ice Cube shows how easily a minimum wage job can easily transform into selling drugs. Not once does he come off as preachy, as his mixture of humor and genuine anger make Cube feel like an older family member that's really interested in warning you how easy it is to fall into the trap of selling drugs. I'd love for this to be longer, but then again, why mess with perfection?
9. Man's Best Friend
Obviously not as brilliant as the last song, but O'Shea's ode to his gun keeps things rolling along in the right direction. As you can probably tell by the title and my last sentence, Cube uses another two minutes to explain why dogs are no longer a man's best friend, but rather a gat, especially for someone living in a violent area. The beat is pretty cool too.
10. Alive On Arrival
Ice Cube is shot in a drive-by shooting and is delivered to the hospital alive, but eventually dies thanks to a lack of proper treatment by the doctors. This is some truly incredible songwriting. Never have I heard someone so vividly describe the process of watching your life slowly fade in front of you, and that's mostly because of Cube's incredible attention to detail. I especially love the line about how he had to watch a couple episodes of M.A.S.H. while the hospital made him stay in the waiting room. The song sends a powerful message about how shitty poor patients are treated on a daily basis. Depressing as shit, but impressive, nonetheless.
11. Death
This short interlude concludes the death side of the album, which, again, displays where society was at in 1991 and its most prevalent problems. Listening in 2014, its obvious that most of these issues are still every bit as relevant as they were 23 years ago.
12. Birth
And now the light side. Cube's assignment of the second half of the album is to show who he is and why exactly he's so damn mad. Instead of pointing out the problems of society, he'll be explaining just what society needs to do to most past these problems.
13. I Wanna Kill Sam
Oh man, Cube goes right the fuck off on the military, explaining why he wants to kill Uncle Sam, who subsequently appears on the album cover. Though completely over the top, the lyrics have to be somewhat relatable to anyone that's not wholeheartedly dedicated to serving in the military. They were for me at least, so you can take that how you will. Anyways, I've always seen this as a harsher take on Public Enemy's "Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos", and even though you would never in a million years hear Chuck D reciting these bars, its a welcome installation.
14. Horny Lil' Devil
At this point, O'Shea is basically trying to find whoever hasn't been offended yet, and he takes out a large chuck on this song. His target: all white people ever. The common white man is attacked pretty relentlessly here, but his complaint about white women having typically flat asses has to be a product of its time. I mean, Iggy Azalea has basically made a very, very successful career based on the sole fact that she has a big ass. That has to be the reason, right?
15. Black Korea
This was probably the most controversial song on the album at the time, and I guess that prestigious is warranted. Cube goes all in on Asian store owners, and to be fair, it was a response to recent events at the time, but the I think the real reason so many people got pissed is that this actually appears on the fucking light side. In the UK, the one minute song (that's all it took for Cube to piss people off) was left off the album pressings completely, and to that, I propose this question: how in the hell was "Horny Lil' Devil" left one there? Still, O'Shea defends the song's placing to this day, saying that the song was meant for both parties, in an attempt for them both to learn how to live together in peace. See guys, a little explaining was all we needed.
16. True To The Game
Truth be told, O'Shea's opening verse leaves something to be desired, but things start to pick up when he begins calling out crossover artists. Out host questions why black artists reach fame and start living a typically stereotypical Rich White Person lifestyle. Cube's comment on the label owners not giving a fuck about them gains weight in light of the Donald Sterling issues, but I found the most interesting aspect to be the laid-back instrumental. It compliments Ice Cube's delivery well, as he abandons his usual aggressive tone. Its like he's simply disappointed in the people he's talking to.
17. Color Blind (Feat. Deadly Threat, Kam, Maad Circle, King Tee, & J-Dee)
Cube's take on gang banging isn't the most professional, but it's still interesting and absolutely true (the same could be said about nearly every song on the album). The instrumental is rather subdued, carrying the theme of the last track, but that allows us to pay better attention to the first and only guests on the album. I love the occasional King Tee appearance, but my favorite verse comes from Coolio, who was a member of Maad Circle. He's not particularly stand-out, but its Coolio, and, yeah...
18. Doing Dumb Shit
Can't lie to you all, I don't know why the hell this song is on the album. This has nothing to do with furthering the development of society, and Ice Cube's not all that serious, which is a first, but you shouldn't take that as a negative. I can guarantee you that this detour of O'Shea reminiscing on his childhood will be more than welcome. The beat is playful as well, almost in a cartoon type of way, and even though this song doesn't carry the same emotional weight as the rest of Death Certificate, it'll probably stick with you for a while.
19. Us
Alright, after that odd turn of events, its time to get back to offending everyone in the entire world. After some very what-you-would-expect opening bars, O'Shea has a huge twist in his plot, as he turns rant on his own race. He starts off complaining about how drug dealers are just as bad as everyone else (which might sound like common knowledge to most people, but no one says that shit on a hip hop song, especially in 1991) because the money goes to their own greedy exploits instead of back into the community. I mean, most community events don't promote being funded by drug dealing, but I'm sure you get his point.
20. No Vaseline
We've already discussed this song, but the placement of this at the end of the album is genius (it's still cool as hell every time Cube says, "Oh yeah, it ain't over motherfuckers"). To my knowledge, Ice Cube left N.W.A. due to money issues and was perfectly fine going about things on his own, but after his former crew dedicated almost half of Efil4Zaggin to dissing our host, he had no choice but to dismantle each member one-by-one. N.W.A. would eventually completely dissolve in the wake of "No Vaseline" and, again, that's why I consider it to be the best diss track of all time. Even after recently becoming a billionaire, you know that this still pisses Dre off every time it pops up on his iPod shuffle.
Rating: 5/5
Though it may not have had the same colossal impact of The Chronic or Straight Outta Compton, Death Certificate is the greatest hip hop album to ever emerge from the Western side of the United States. From a pure quality standpoint, its relatively untouched, and, thanks to the brilliant sequencing, it contains a forever relevant message that people of all backgrounds can get behind in some way or another. Death Certificate is Ice Cube's angriest and most focused album (which is extremely impressive considering there's twenty damn tracks). He addressed what he saw as the biggest ailments in society with alarming clarity and cohesion. What I may enjoy most about this album is Cube's respect for the listener. He never drags these songs out longer than necessary, as some of the finest moments come in under two minutes, resulting in one of the least pretentious albums to ever be recorded. For that, Death Certificate is Ice Cube's finest work. And the teeth-shattering instrumentals are pretty damn sweet as well, so that's gotta count for something. If you're only familiar with O'Shea because of his work in cinema, we need to have a talk, but buying Death Certificate is a fine place to start if you want to start regaining some of your dignity. Cube would never top this, but how the fuck could he? This shit is flawless.