Maps of Music

Death Certificate (1991)

Where the lyrics of Death Certificate take you, and where it was really made.

The original UK release dropped the two most controversial tracks, out of fear that racial-incitement law could ban the album.

Place unknown

Do you know where this album was recorded, or where its cover was shot? Tell us and we will add it to the map.

Writing and recording began in late 1990 and ran through most of 1991
While making the album, Ice Cube was also involved in Yo-Yo's debut Make Way for the Motherlode
Also involved in cousin Del tha Funkee Homosapien's I Wish My Brother George Was Here
His film debut, Boyz n the Hood, co-starred Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Laurence Fishburne
Sound leaned more West Coast than AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, with heavy 70s funk and soul samples

Ice Cube was very active in the production, as on his previous album
Several tracks sample acts such as Zapp (Ohio) and Fishbone (California)
Unlike AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, the Bomb Squad's hard-edged beats were not the foundation

Born O'Shea Jackson in Los Angeles on June 15, 1969; stage name from his older brother's teasing.
Formed the trio C.I.A. in 1986 at age 16, then joined N.W.A.
Left N.W.A in late 1989 over a monetary dispute with the group's management.

Lead rapper and main lyricist of N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton (1989), shaping gangsta rap's early identity.
Solo albums AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991) and The Predator (1992) were critically and commercially successful; The Predator debuted at No. 1 on both the R&B/hip-hop and pop charts.
Co-founded the Westside Connection with Mack 10 and WC in 1995.
Acting career from 1991's Boyz n the Hood; co-wrote and starred in Friday (1995) and directed The Players Club (1998).
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an N.W.A member in 2016.

Death Certificate received critical acclaim
Select's Ted Kessler: the combination of 70s P-Funk and sharp rhyme delivery pleased listeners
Spin: the album mixed vitriolic politics with raw street knowledge and a George Clinton-like sense of celebratory freakiness
Hip-hop fanzine Louder Than A Bomb!: a critic said listeners could not picture the ghetto while hearing it

AllMusic, in a retrospective review, called it even harder and angrier than AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
AllMusic: funkier, noisier, and more musically effective than AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
The Source: first gave 4.5 mics, then in its 150th issue gave full marks in a 5 Mic Hip-Hop Classics list

Debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 105,000 copies in its first week
RIAA platinum certification on December 20, 1991, for over a million copies
As of March 2020, over two million copies sold in the United States
Returned to the Billboard 200 on September 4, 2015, at number 99 with 14,000 sales
Ranked #8 in MTV's Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time list in 2005

The original UK release removed "Black Korea" and "No Vaseline" out of fear that racial-incitement law could ban the album
The album was highly anticipated, with over one million advance orders
Its promotion budget was a meager $18,000
Unlike Ice Cube's other albums, it was not released in a censored version
Ice Cube's previous album avoided direct attacks on N.W.A, but this one included "True to the Game" and "No Vaseline" as diss tracks aimed at former bandmates