Ice Cube - Death Certificate

Death Certificate is comparatively (triple emphases on "comparatively") less of a vengeful blast of testosterone than Amerikkka's Most Wanted. The production here is significantly more laid-back, for starters: Death Certificate finds that delicate halfway point between Public Enemy's Bomb-squad productions and Dr. Dre's P-Funk aping G-funk. It's an interesting mix that makes it one of the more invigorating listens from the golden age of hip-hop. Cube himself is fiery as ever, but somehow it seems less of a shock to the system than his first album or NWA's Straight Outta Compton. It's an equal to Amerikkka's Most Wanted; lyrically, AMW is better, but Death Certificate wins on production.

Ice Cube - Amerikkka's Most Wanted

Hey, remember when Ice Cube was a bad motherfucker? I don't fault him for going Eddie Murphey, but he's got more than a handful of gangsta classics to his name that are more fascinating than the Are We There Yet? series. They're violent and misogynistic, but Cube's got a way with words. The violence is offset by a perverse sense of humor throughout, as on "It's a Man's World," "The Nigga Ya Love to Hate" and "A Gangsta's Fairytale." As summer blockbuster viewers say to turn your brain off when watching Transformers, one has to put aside political correct instincts aside when listening to early Ice Cube. We don't make rational decisions when we're angry, and Ice Cube circa 1990 is one angry motherfucker. (The Kill at Will EP is a worthy followup tacked on as a bonus to the CD reissue).