Ice Cube: Death Certificate (CD)

Ice Cube's second album, Death Certificate, came at you like a runaway train. A heavily armed runaway train, in a very bad mood.

To recap: O’Shea Jackson, aka Ice Cube, left NWA in 1989. His debut solo album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, was a sensation, hitting like prime-time Tyson and stirring fury at both ends of the political spectrum with lyrics that poked many tender spots – political, emotional, or physical – you might care to name. His second record, the Kill At Will EP, revealed a more sensitive side through songs such as “The Product” and “Dead Homiez.” Hollywood was buzzing around him as an actor. Some pundits even suggested that Ice Cube was going soft.

Brilliantly produced, endlessly funky, and laying complex breaks on top of each other, Death Certificate shocked many at the time (Island Records even cut two tracks from the original UK release) but has long since been acknowledged as a certified hip-hop classic. Uneasy listening on a mission, it kicks ass musically, verbally and politically, and it’ll blow you away. Perhaps literally.

1. The Funeral
2. The Wrong Nigga To Fuck Wit
3. My Summer Vacation
4. Steady Mobbin'
5. Robin Lench
6. Givin' Up The Nappy Dug Out
7. Look Who's Burnin'
8. A Bird In The Hand
9. Man's Best Friend
10. Alive On Arrival
11. Death
12. The Birth
13. I Wanna Kill Sam
14. Horny Lil' Devil
15. Black Korea
16. True To The Game
17. Color Blind
18. Doing Dumb Shit
19. Us
20. No Vaseline
21. How To Survive In South Central