Death Certificate (album) - Content

Content

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.

Do I have to sell me a whole lot of crack

For decent shelter and clothes on my back?

Or should I just wait for help from Bush?

Or Jesse Jackson and Operation PUSH?

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 was shot to death by a Korean store owner on March 16, 1991 in an altercation over 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 African Americans towards Asians.

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 dis tracks aimed at his former bandmates.

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.