One hell of a follow up to Amerikkka's Most Wanted
Man, you'd think that after setting the world on fire with Amerikkka's Most Wanted, there would be no way that Ice Cube could top that album. But with his second release Death Certificate, he comes VERY CLOSE. This album is SO EXCELLENT that after playing it the first time, you'd have to play over again. In 1991, Cube came hard once again, showing us a venomous taste in some political issues for this record. It's another one of my favorite album. Here's the review:Album Highlights: The ENTIRE album, even the skits are worth listening to.
Production: Thumbs up.
Lyrics and Subject Matter: Thumbs up, he came politically correct on this one.
Originality: Thumbs up.
The Last Word: Ice Cube had the West Coast ON LOCK with this album in 1991, even more so than N.W.A. at the time with the release of their lackluster album NIGGAZ4LIFE (by the way, check out the BRUTAL dis of N.W.A. on this album entitled "No Vaseline"). Overall, another STRONG RECOMMENDATION on this album, one of the greatest sequels EVER in hip hop. You won't be disappointed if you purchase this.
Best Album of All Time
This is Ice Cube at his apex. He did good work with NWA, and his first LP was pretty good, the EP was pretty good, but this album is just fantastic. The beats are great with production by the Bomb Squad (Chuck-D's crew), the lyrics are tight, but what makes this album so good is the concept. I first bought this on tape so the concept is more understandable and every single song had a purpose; the first side is straight up gangsta with bombs like My Summer Vacation, Bird in the Hand, and Look Who's Burnin, while the second side is more pro-black with strong (and some, not me, would consider over the top) songs like Horny Little Devil, True to the Game (which is still the funniest video I ever saw), and Color Blind. But then at the very end he serves NWA some hot fire with "No Vaseline", a response to "Real Niggaz". This is what the War and Piece albums tried to be but didn't come close. By that time Cube had become a movie star wearing top hats. But this album is not only classic Cube but classic hip-hop. This album makes most of today's hip-hop, which is devoid of concept and talent, look like doo doo.
Maybe Ice Cube's greatest album
It is hard to say if DEATH CERTIFICATE or AMERIKKKA'S MOST WANTED is Ice Cube's best album.
This album has so many good tracks on it I probably could list them all -- some are: "Wrong N**** to F*** Wit", My Summer Vacation", "Steady Mobbin'", "Man's Best Friend" (one of the 1st tracks to sample George Clinton's "Atomic Dog"), and "Bird in the Hand".
Also, this album has the greatest diss-track ever -- "No Vaseline" which is about Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and the rest of NWA
This album has great funk-induced beats (that was popular in 1990's rap), and Ice Cube covers several issues of that time in the album.
It is an essential album, but the material may seem dated for the youngin's.
DEATH CERTIFICATE
FIRST OFF I WANNA SAY F''C BEN FOR SAYIN THIS CD WACC ON A REVIEW BELOW BUT ONE THING DID DISAPOINT ME DAT SOME OF THA SONGS R SHORT AZ F''C BUT ITZ NOT WACC.TIGHT CD BY CUBE NOT WACC BEST SONGS R THA WRONG NI''A TA F''C WIT STEADY MOBBIN GIVIN UP THA NAPPY DUG OUT LOOK WHOS BURNIN A BIRD N THA HAND MANS BEST FRIEND ALIVE ON ARIVAL I WANNA KILL SAM BLACC KOREA TRU TO THA GAME COLOR BLIND DOING DUMB S''T US N NO VASELINE.GET THIS IF U DONT ALREADY GET THIS AND LETHAL INJECTION.
Sickening
Ice Cube spews forth the most hateful, vulgar, sexually debasing, racially antagonistic stream of filth I have ever had the displeasure of hearing.
