25 Years: Ice Cube's Death Certificate remains the best West Coast solo rap album

The biggest shock for me as a hip hop fan is how people forget early Ice Cube. If you’re my age - 32 - you might remember “Check Yourself” and “It Was a Good Day” but you probably remember Cube from Westside Connection and the late 90s when he had more club records.

“Straight Outta Compton” might have reinvigorated interest in NWA but it only had a brief glimpse into Cube’s solo career after he left. People may know Cube was NWA's chief songwriter besides MC Ren and The D.O.C. but modern fans forget that from 1990-94, he was as great as anybody who ever touched a mic.

I’ve gone as far as to say Ice Cube is better than Tupac. Tupac was brilliant with his emotion and passion but the fact some of you raised an eyebrow showed why Ice Cube is probably more underrated than he should be.

Death Certificate is the crown jewel of that early run. AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted was a powerful debut that showed Ice Cube could hold his own away from NWA. Death Certificate was a step forward in taking that rage and skill and making it more West Coast friendly. The Bomb Squad handled most of the production for AMW but DC was all Cube and Sir Jinx making it funkier.

It’s also one of the most controversial albums ever made. A town in Oregon banned copies of it and several of these songs probably couldn’t be made today (Giving Up The Nappy Dugout!). It still reached No. 2 on the pop charts and it showed why Cube was the most popular and most feared rapper out. I've already written before why I think it's the best West Coast solo album but now that my musical ears have grown, I'm breaking it down even further.

The D.O.C. - No One Can Do It Better (25 Years and Still True)

 

For years, I’ve felt that the greatest hip hop tragedy not involving a death was what happened to the D.O.C. Thanks to a car accident that trashes his vocal cords and suddenly, one of the West Coast’s most promising talents has been altered forever.

The biggest outcome is that future generations of rap listeners like myself would never get to hear him on records that dominated the West’s landscape. Future generations would also forget his talent and perhaps only remember him from Dr. Dre’s shoutout on “Nuthin But a G Thang” or his voice on this Jock Jam/sports arena classic.

To be honest, I didn’t even listen to No One Can Do It Better until 2009. Yet being forgotten or known as a sidekick does a disservice to perhaps the most technically gifted MC on the West Coast who could’ve made an even bigger impact that he has now as a ghostwriter.

This month is the 25th anniversary of the D.O.C.’s debut and it’s one of my favorites. He made rapping sound so easy and with Dr. Dre continued to build on his production style, it was a marriage that added a new layer to the West Coast beginning to make an impact on rap.

Electric Relaxation: A Debate over "Niggas in Paris" and its success

(Disclaimer: I personally don't use nigga in my everyday speech. But since we are adults and I'll be darned if I let mainstream (White) publications say it with no fear, I'm going to say it here because I'm discussing the song and the word in general. This also isn't meant to be my complete opinion on the word because there's more to say.)

I guess this was inevitable. At some point, there’d be a popular hip hop song with nigga in the title that would somehow cross over and be a pop hit. I didn’t think it was possible but as Jay-Z once said “difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week.”

It’s no surprise that America’s favorite rappers were the first to do it. Jay-Z and Kanye made history again as "Niggas in Paris" is the first #1 R&B/rap hit with Nigga in the title as well as the first Top-5 and 10 pop hit.

Let’s get this out of the way. I didn’t like Watch the Throne when I first heard it. Besides a few songs, it was too gaudy, too much focus on excess, Jay-Z’s still on lyrical cruise control (on the surface at least), and not even an inspired Kanye made me enjoy it like I would have in 2005/06. I’ve only liked one Jay album since he came back from retirement so hearing him isn’t exciting anymore.

But “Paris” was a highlight. It sounded like a foreign beat and it felt funky like what you’d expect to play in the background as you visit Paris. Not to mention, I got visuals of my Black heroes who spent significant time in France – Josephine Baker, Richard Wright, James Baldwin and more. I liked the song more than just the catchy hook or Kanye’s usual lyrical shine.

Yet like Jon Heder said in the sample, I don’t even know what it means…..that a song has crossed over with Nigga in the title (but only says it four times in the song). Is it all bad, quietly dangerous or even a sign of the further meshing of cultures that there isn’t more outrage? Or is this the final spawn of something that’s been bubbling for three decades?

NWA wasn’t the first act to use nigga in their lyrics. 70’s Black movies and Richard Pryor had already made that word a bit popular in the communities and other cats in the 80’s had done it, especially Ice-T and Schooly D. But Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella made that word part of their identity and Hip-Hop/Black culture would never be the same afterwards.

Their last album “Efil4zaggin” is the first (and to date, only) No. 1 album with nigga in the title and even then, they had to flip it backwards. It was also a sign of hardcore rap making a popular dent following the 3 million seller of Straight Outta Compton.

But as I remember an MTV special showed, Straight Outta Compton and Ice-T’s Power only used Nigga 40-50 times on their album. Cats on average probably use it over 100 times now. Yet NWA’s name and “F--- the Police” gave them a lot of shock value notoriety.

Even as more and more rappers started using nigga in their raps, White fans still knew that word was a no-go. My White peers knew never to say that word when they rapped songs and only the truly smart alecky idiots would dare say it.

Despite the widespread usage, songs like A Tribe Called Quest “Sucka Nigga”, Goodie Mob’s “The Experience” and Mos Def’s “Mr. Nigga” discussed what the word meant and people always got reminded that there was a flipside. Cee-Lo said it best on The Experience - "you ain't a nigger because you're Black, you're a nigger cause of how you act" (meaning it was about ignorance, not skin color). Of course, that got lost among every rapper and their mama using it.

I didn’t grow up using that word. I began saying “brotha” because I realized at some point, it’s better to reinvigorate a term of endearment than recreate one. Like the Last Poets said on Nas’ “Project Roach” - “We should resurrect brothers and sisters instead of trying to kill the word nigger” because that mentality still exists."

(Speaking of Nas, his last album was supposed to be titled Nigger and I would’ve supported it because his album had songs that discussed the word and it’s impact. Of course, it was forced to be changed but it didn’t tone down some of Nas’ songs that looked at how we see ourselves)

Every word we use, it has a capacity

And if you don't understand the words you're using

And understand the capacity of it

You are using words that is creating a destiny for you

That you don't even know, or even conscious of

I once wrote a poem discussing why I didn’t use the word yet at the same time, since my college was so White, I grew to feel comfortable when I heard Black folks use it.  It was a reminder that I could be cool around my people and just be myself instead of always hanging around one group. That may sound hypocritical but it shows how it can be confusing. 

15 years ago, it never would’ve been cool to have a pop hit single with it in the title.  Let’s not forget it was barely 10 years ago when The Source tried to destroy Eminem’s career over 90’s tapes with him saying it.  Times have changed and it’s coincided with the culture becoming far more integrated and younger folks having less awareness of cultural differences/history (and tastemakers being less sensitive about it)

A generation of kids have heard nigga in popular rap and are growing up thinking it’s normal – hence the V-Nasty’s of the world who say it and Black folks who defend them for whatever reason. That offends me more because when we don't check others, we've lost control of a word we tried to empower. Years ago, White people would listen to rap and know much better than say the word. Nowadays, people want to know why they can't say it or what's the harm.

I asked on Facebook how people felt about the song being a hit. Some could care less. Some were concerned over why folks are using that word still. But that small sample showed me why it’s no surprise that in 2011, the right, safe rappers could get away with doing it without most folks raising an eyebrow over it.

A friend of mine made a good point in an email that if 2 of the top Black artists are doing it, it’s troubling because of America’s fascination with violence and hate. Black artists used to uplift the people and now we’ve gotten so comfortable with using that word that it’s regression that it’s become so ingrained in popular music.

Both points are valid and it’s exactly why this song being popular is hardly eyebrow raising yet it also should be. "Niggas in Paris" to me is an ultimate sign of how far we’ve come on culture mixing but a question if it truly is progress – if anything it’s obviously surface progress. Is it cool if Top 40 plays a song with it so kids will have the awkward conversation of requesting it? The way I figure, pop hits have had that word in it for so long that having it in the title is the only logical next step.

It’s a confusing argument for me.  I'm not saying we censor the word cause everyone has the right to do with it as they please but when that word escapes the boundaries of the group trying to reclaim it (similar to other harmful words) - what then? Does it lose it's power and is that a bad thing given the dark history of the word? 

I guess the only thing I’m clear on is who should and shouldn’t use it and the fact that us using so much has created more problems than liberation.

Electric Relaxation: Death Certificate = Greatest West Coast solo hip hop album

Along with Nas, Ice Cube is my favorite MC. I bought his first 3 albums the summer of 2005 and they were the soundtrack to understanding why Cube was hands down the hardest MC in his prime. You can only get so much from downloading individual songs like I did.

I've told folks that Cube from 1990-1993 can stand toe-to-toe with any MC (and for that matter, throw in his NWA years since he was the main songwriter along with MC Ren). He balanced realness with pop success. He sold well, had everyone listening to him and most of all, he scared folks with brutal honesty about growing up in 90's Los Angeles.

His 2nd album Death Certificate is one of my favorites in any genre. A brilliant concept album that has influenced more MC's than you think. I'm going on a limb and saying it's the greatest solo West Coast hip hop album. The only album worth competing is Tupac's Me Against the World or 7 Day Theory. Death Certificate combines of both of those albums - passion, anger, sobering realism and uplifting his audience.

Just from that picture, you knew it was serious. Cube with his hand over his heart over Uncle Sam's dead body. You knew this wasn't just any rap album. It was about to get raw and real, as soon as that preacher finished his monologue on the opener.

DC was a more independent, focused Cube. His first album was made with the help of the Bomb Squad but this was all him, Sir Jinx and the Lench Mob. NWA had already dropped their followup and went #1 - proving they could survive with Cube and take shots at him. If AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was his warning shot, DC was his full-on assault that showed he was the wrong brotha to mess with.

DC is split into 2 sides. The Death Side - Cube running wild like a typical hood kid who doesn't know any better, being angry, reckless and ends up dead. The Life Side - A rebirth where Cube realizes the error of his ways and becomes an advocate for the community in the vein of Malcolm X, Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers.

I love the Life Side because it shows Cube at his most conscious, volatile and angry. You can tell he became a full on Muslim with how he goes off on folks. Hard to pick a favorite song so I'll highlight some of my favorite tracks that sum up why this album earned 5 mics in the Source

"My Summer Vacation" - Cube's brilliant storytelling shines here. A tale of drug dealers going to Minnesota/Seattle to find work. Think further proof of DJ Quik's "Just Lyke Compton"

"A Bird in the Hand" - A song you don't hear about today. Everyone wants to be drug kingpins and all that but Cube is the one to admit the reasons behind most folks doing it. A last resort after trying to find work with no diploma and being short on cash. The BB King sample makes it feel even more bleak.




"True to The Game" - an attack of Black folks who sell out their communities/culture. The video is incredibly provocative and I wish Spike Lee used this in "Bamboozled." Be true to who you are and not who you think you should be.

"Us" - Cube pointing the finger at Black folks for contributing to their problems. As angry as he is as America, white folks and Korean store owners, he's quick to show it here as well as call for doing more to help themselves. Again, something we don't hear often that we need, especially today.

"Alive on Arrival" - 3 years before Biggie kills himself on wax and at the same time Scarface did the same on his debut, Cube writes from the P.O.V. of a guy shot in the streets and slowly dying in the hospital. Also a  critique on bad health care in the Black communities. It's also the next to last song on the Death Side before Cube is reborn.

Oh yeah, the only guest appearances are on "Color Blind" with a pre-fame WC and Coolio among the verses. There's also skits from Khalid Muhammad closing the Death Side and beginning the Life Side. But this is all Cube holding his own and making footprints in hip-hop. It also has one of the greatest disses ever in "No Vaseline" where he destroys NWA and Jerry Heller.

It's better than Snoop Dogg's debut because while Doggystyle is sonically and lyrically tight, there's no social commentary on there. It's better than The Chronic although while it created a whole new sound that Cube later emulated, Snoop was arguably the star of that album just as much Dr. Dre. Tupac's best work rivals it because Ice Cube was Tupac before Tupac hit the mainstream.

And for all the controversy surrounding the racial content,  it still went No. 2 on the pop charts and platinum. Proved that Cube was arguably the biggest solo rapper in America and not only does controversy sell, so does artistic integrity. .

Why do I love it?  Because it's a coming of age album. It describes the life of most Black men in that era - from being like O-Dog and Doughboy to Furious Styles. It's a maturity in hip-hop that isn't heard enough today. It's cinematic in its approach as Cube is a street reporter who tells it like it is without sugarcoating or exaggeration. It's music made with a purpose.

Case in point, this album is West Coast hip-hop at its finest. Check that, it's hip-hop at its finest.

NWA and Guns N' Roses: Kindred Spirits

The first time you hear "Straight Outta Compton", it sounds like a sonic assault of rage and inner-city anger. It's powerful and then when you hear Ice Cube's booming voice on the intro, it's on like a runaway train.

The first time you hear "Welcome to the Jungle," you get the same feeling. It's raw, violent and dangerous. The soundtrack to the dark side of Hollywood and Axl Rose's wail sounds like a maniacal host.

NWA and Guns N' Roses. Two of my favorite artists linked by their meteoric rise, being in LA and sad fall. Both of them changed the game by bringing some edge into it. Both scared folks and made them step their game up. Five men in each group being among the best in their craft.

Axl Rose = Eazy-E: The leader and volatile personality who was the face of the group.
Slash = Ice Cube: The most talented member, regarded as one of the best to ever do it.
Duff = MC Ren: Underrated yet valuable and consistent
Izzy = Dr. Dre: The rhythm of the group, the engine that made it churn.
Steven Adler = DJ Yella: The 5th wheel who's important in their own way.

Appetite for Destruction and Straight Outta Compton were released 13 months apart yet both albums were incredibly similar. Los Angeles was defined by the hair metal scene and it was all about the party without the substance. Popular music needed a swift kick in the rear and along came these two albums that paved the way for Nirvana's nail in the coffin in 1991.

No Guns N' Roses song matches the social commentary and Black anger as "F The Police" or "Gangsta Gangsta" (Paradise City might capture that rage in its blistering 2nd half). No NWA song was anywhere near the beautiful ballad "Sweet Child O' Mine" (although Express Yourself might come close). Yet both albums were almost mirror images of angst, chemistry and purposed rage in that summer of 1988.

I'm pretty sure both of them knew how powerful they were. Axl started wearing an NWA hat on tour and NWA had a song called "Appetite for Destruction" on the Efil4zaggin album. I admire both of them because they represented the soul of a Los Angeles that's rarely seen. LA isn't all surf and sun (c) Ice Cube - it's got some grit mixed in there. And most of my favorite L.A. bands captured that.

The saddest thing was both were too good to last. Comets in the sky. Axl and Eazy-E played key roles in destroying what they built. By 1993, NWA was splintered and Guns N'Roses released their last album as we know it (Chinese Democracy doesn't/shouldn't count). Yet their legacies remain as two of the greatest artists of not just the past 25 years, but of all time.

Watching this NWA documentary on VH1 tonite, it made me miss the power of Dre's early beats, Ice Cube and MC Ren's booming voices and Eazy-E walking around like a boss. And it reminded me of Axl's powerful voice and the twin guitar assault of Slash and Duff.

Absolutely brilliant. Music doesn't scare or challenge people lyrically or sonically in the mainstream anymore and this is a reminder when music could be legitimately hard and still make a dent on the pop charts. Killer Mike and Rise Against are two of the few artists today that remind me of that raw, potent energy.

Here's hoping that we can get an NWA reunion on Dre's final album Detox (10 years since "Chin Check" and "Hello") and a true G'N'R reunion at the Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Greatest LA Band of my lifetime?

My post from Monday had a line that made a few folks wonder - I said that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were the best band Los Angeles has produced in my lifetime (since 1984). Outside of Guns N Roses, it's hard to argue against what the Chili Peppers have done to earn that.

Since their breakthrough album Mother's Milk in 1988, they've had a slew of hits and great albums while evolving from a punk/funk band to a rock band with solid melodies, brilliant songwriting and the ability to still keep it funky and raw. When their next album drops (soon I hope), it'll be one of the biggest rock albums of the year.

They're still relevant, their impact is rock solid and their legacy is still being written as one of the greatest bands of the last 30 years. Not to mention they're #1 on my must-see in concert list. But what about others who could make that argument for being LA's finest? For me, it all starts with Axl, Slash, and the boys.

Guns N' Roses had a six year run that rivals any band in music history. A sonic boom that paved the way for Metallica and Nirvana to kill the hair metal of the 80's and a rawness that captured the essence of the Sunset Strip back then.

Classic songs, a genre defining album, the powerful combo of Axl's voice, Slash's guitar and combustible creativity. Makes me wish Axl didn't blowtorch that legacy with his ego because had G'N'R lasted even 5-6 more years in that form, they wouldn't just be one of the greatest bands ever. They could arguably be the greatest band of the post-Led Zeppelin era.

Not a bad consolation to be cited as one of the greatest based on a perfect storm. But as we waited for Axl to drop Chinese Democracy, Slash and Co. made great music with Velvet Revolver and RHCP kept doing their thing. Greatness not denied, but never totally realized.

Fishbone came out around the same time as RHCP (even toured with them in 1988) and is the most underrated/underappreciated band of my lifetime. I didn't get into them until 2004-05 but once I did, it was easy to see why they don't get much love.

Their best albums ("Truth and Soul" and "Reality of My Surroundings") got them some moderate success but despite their ska/funk/punk/hard rock sound, the mainstream never fully came around to them. Those who saw them perform said they were the greatest live act they had seen. Even the ska revolution of the mid-90's didn't produce anymore fame.

By 1993, they lost guitarist Kendall Jones at their peak. Other members left and they continued to be a cult phenomenon. One day I hope to see them live and witness their genius. While they didn't get the full mainstream love (and were a victim of label politics), Fishbone had probably more influence on more bands in So.Cal than anybody. Just ask No Doubt or the Chili Peppers themselves.

(Edit: Somehow I forgot to mention this next band in my original post although they have my favorite guitarist and helped raise my awareness. What an IDIOT.)

Rage Against the Machine continued the legacy of The Clash, MC5 and Public Enemy as one of the only bands that mattered in the Clinton era (1993-2001) who didn't just rest on their laurels. They got angrier as they got older but they remained LA to their core - even naming their final original album Battle of Los Angeles.

Somehow they achieved more success than any political band in recent memory. In a time of prosperity, they stayed vigilant even on Saturday Night Live and at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. And sonically, they were just way too creative as Tom Morello made his guitar sound like anything and everything.

They got the hint. Music/message have to both be strong. But even though I like Zach and Co. and seeing them live in 2007 remains one of my highlights, I can't put them above RHCP thanks to their premature breakup. I would've loved for them to stay together during the Bush II Administration, especially in 2004. One of the 90's greatest bands and I'll always stay tuned to "Guerrilla Radio."

Jane's Addiction almost singlehandedly created the alternative rock scene. They're one of the most unique bands ever and I'm a big fan of Dave Navarro's playing - ironically I refuse to buy his only album with RHCP even though "My Friends" is a great song.

As great as their influence is and their songs are, their peak was almost shorter than Guns N Roses (3 years) and even though their song is in the intro of "Entourage," there's always a doubt that Jane's will ever stick around long enough to enjoy them. But their mark is set in stone.

Motley Crue? They ruled the 80's but let's be real. The only reason they're still relevant to most folks my age is because of Tommy Lee. I respect the Crue as legends and they're possibly the greatest hair-metal band but ask my peers to name a Crue song besides "Girls, Girls, Girls." Besides Tommy Lee's underrated drumming, they didn't musically add much to the game and their image trumped that.

No hate, just facts. In the same breath, you can argue N.W.A. was a band and deserves a role on this list. Unfortunately 3 albums means they're in the same breath as Jane's Addiction. They were the hip-hop Guns' N Roses and while their impact is untouchable, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube's solo work make you only wonder what they could've done if they weren't screwed over by money.

So there you have it. Oh wait a sec, what's this noise? My God! That could only mean one thing. I forgot about these guys!

Yep, Metallica started in LA. And they have everything the Chili Peppers have - longevity, impact, sales, hits, mainstream acceptance, relevance (thanks to their last album). Matter of fact, they and RHCP broke through (albums in 1988), changed the game (albums in 1991), went through an identity crisis in the mid-90's, came back with a force in 1999 (Californication and S&M) and still made an impact in the 2000's.

One of the greatest metal bands ever and among the greatest at their respective skills (James Hetfield - phenomenal voice, Kirk Hammett - Top 5 Guitarist of the last 30 years, Lars Ulrich - one of the greatest drummers ever and most versatile since he cowrites most of the band's lyrics).

You can't beat 5 straight No.1 albums. And even if I can't see them as an L.A. band like RHCP, they represent the best my city has to offer. So I guess the answer is a tie? Or a question for another blog.

By the way, the greatest band from LA period? These two trump everybody.