Inspect Her Deck
Skins of all colours come together as brothers
As Ice Cube's Death Certificate approaches its 25-year anniversary [released October 29, 1991], I wonder whether there is any hip-hop album out there that rivals Cube's sophomore effort with regards to addressing so many key social, economic and political issues....and my mind is drawing blanks.
Ice Cube was only a few years removed from leaving a potential rap dynasty in N.W.A. and after he almost sought refuge in the East Coast in an attempt to salvage a solo career, people wondered where would Ice Cube the solo rapper end up. A 5 mic classic in AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and an equally impressive EP entitled Kill at Will later, Cube had answered his critics with aplomb. As explosive a start as you could hope to make, Cube wasn't done yet, and returned the following year with an album that not only transcended hip-hop, but life itself. If one's magnum opus was usually categorised as universally accepted and cherished, Death Certificate was anything but. This album was brash, unforgiving, but ridden with harsh realities and dire circumstances, and accompanied with Cube's relentless and ferocious delivery, it made for a "must see TV" listening equivalent.
AmeriKKKa's Most was more of a generalised attack on America's racial and social inequality but also the problems that plagued black society from within. There were some specific remarks thrown at law enforcement or the pimping game or drug wars, but those were fewer and further between and also interwoven with creative and more humorous storytelling and a sense of braggadocio. On Death Certificate, each track had a very specific purpose, and Cube pointed an accusing finger at not only the 'outside' perpetrators so-to speak in terms of a white supremacist government personified as Uncle Sam or law enforcement but he went even harder at his own kind, reminding 'Us' that the selling of drugs within the community is a bigger killer than the cops or that failing to stay 'True to the Game' to garner white acceptance will only come back to bite you in the ass.
I could go on about each track in detail and what they mean and why they are so significant but you'd be better off listening to the album yourself, because words don't do this album justice. I just want to briefly remark on what most impressed me about this album: its cohesion.
If you look at this image above, you'll notice Ice Cube standing in between two different sets of people. On the left are fellow members of the Lench Mob and presumably other gang members that represent the 'Death Side' of the album, in Cube's words non-verbatim, the mirror image of where society is at currently. On this side of the album Cube was telling stories about a summer vacation that involved him leaving LA to make a greater profit selling drugs in another state, spending a typical day in the hood and generally getting caught in the crossfires of gang shoot-outs or hazardous sexual encounters either with underaged girls or those with STDs. Each song is laced with so much venom and uncompromising reality that truly serves to remind the listener how bleak current conditions are.
On the other side of the image are members of the Nation of Islam, the group that Ice Cube was heavily associated with around that time not so much in a political sense but more so for the fundamental beliefs of the group and the knowledge that could be gained from such an association. Those people represent the 'Life Side' of the album, the image of society that people should aspire to reach to. Cube isn't asking people to join the NOI, but rather to learn from them and apply their teachings to a society that ought to grow in all facets of development, no less the mind. On this half of the album is Cube's desire to metaphorically kill Uncle Sam or in other words destroy a government that is set to disadvantage blacks from the get-go. There are also tracks warning about not acting immature throughout your older years and also trying to ease tensions between Bloods and Crips, in other words, act 'Color Blind'.
I have never EVER seen an album so masterfully composed from start to finish and if there were such a thing as an objective view, I believe Death Certificate ought to go down as the greatest album ever made. This album might mean more to black people than any other race of people, but I believe everyone can learn a lesson from this album and open their eyes to the injustices of society, which I guess even further emphasises this album's amazing prophetic abilities. Of course this album did also foreshadow the LA riots that happened a year later.
I'm not even gonna delve into No Vaseline because as vicious as that was as a diss track, its importance in the grand scheme of things with relation to what else was covered on this album is minimal.
I'd recommend this album to anyone who isn't one of the following: drug dealer, white, white government, a dog, Korean, someone with STDs, underaged girl, a Jew, a sell-out, an immature kid, a McDonalds employee and many more.
Ice Cube was only a few years removed from leaving a potential rap dynasty in N.W.A. and after he almost sought refuge in the East Coast in an attempt to salvage a solo career, people wondered where would Ice Cube the solo rapper end up. A 5 mic classic in AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and an equally impressive EP entitled Kill at Will later, Cube had answered his critics with aplomb. As explosive a start as you could hope to make, Cube wasn't done yet, and returned the following year with an album that not only transcended hip-hop, but life itself. If one's magnum opus was usually categorised as universally accepted and cherished, Death Certificate was anything but. This album was brash, unforgiving, but ridden with harsh realities and dire circumstances, and accompanied with Cube's relentless and ferocious delivery, it made for a "must see TV" listening equivalent.
AmeriKKKa's Most was more of a generalised attack on America's racial and social inequality but also the problems that plagued black society from within. There were some specific remarks thrown at law enforcement or the pimping game or drug wars, but those were fewer and further between and also interwoven with creative and more humorous storytelling and a sense of braggadocio. On Death Certificate, each track had a very specific purpose, and Cube pointed an accusing finger at not only the 'outside' perpetrators so-to speak in terms of a white supremacist government personified as Uncle Sam or law enforcement but he went even harder at his own kind, reminding 'Us' that the selling of drugs within the community is a bigger killer than the cops or that failing to stay 'True to the Game' to garner white acceptance will only come back to bite you in the ass.
I could go on about each track in detail and what they mean and why they are so significant but you'd be better off listening to the album yourself, because words don't do this album justice. I just want to briefly remark on what most impressed me about this album: its cohesion.
If you look at this image above, you'll notice Ice Cube standing in between two different sets of people. On the left are fellow members of the Lench Mob and presumably other gang members that represent the 'Death Side' of the album, in Cube's words non-verbatim, the mirror image of where society is at currently. On this side of the album Cube was telling stories about a summer vacation that involved him leaving LA to make a greater profit selling drugs in another state, spending a typical day in the hood and generally getting caught in the crossfires of gang shoot-outs or hazardous sexual encounters either with underaged girls or those with STDs. Each song is laced with so much venom and uncompromising reality that truly serves to remind the listener how bleak current conditions are.
On the other side of the image are members of the Nation of Islam, the group that Ice Cube was heavily associated with around that time not so much in a political sense but more so for the fundamental beliefs of the group and the knowledge that could be gained from such an association. Those people represent the 'Life Side' of the album, the image of society that people should aspire to reach to. Cube isn't asking people to join the NOI, but rather to learn from them and apply their teachings to a society that ought to grow in all facets of development, no less the mind. On this half of the album is Cube's desire to metaphorically kill Uncle Sam or in other words destroy a government that is set to disadvantage blacks from the get-go. There are also tracks warning about not acting immature throughout your older years and also trying to ease tensions between Bloods and Crips, in other words, act 'Color Blind'.
I have never EVER seen an album so masterfully composed from start to finish and if there were such a thing as an objective view, I believe Death Certificate ought to go down as the greatest album ever made. This album might mean more to black people than any other race of people, but I believe everyone can learn a lesson from this album and open their eyes to the injustices of society, which I guess even further emphasises this album's amazing prophetic abilities. Of course this album did also foreshadow the LA riots that happened a year later.
I'm not even gonna delve into No Vaseline because as vicious as that was as a diss track, its importance in the grand scheme of things with relation to what else was covered on this album is minimal.
I'd recommend this album to anyone who isn't one of the following: drug dealer, white, white government, a dog, Korean, someone with STDs, underaged girl, a Jew, a sell-out, an immature kid, a McDonalds employee and many more.
). Y'all gotta remember he had the government on him right out the gate in late 91 
