The Birth

The Birth In this blog post I will continue with my assessment of the classic hip-hop album The Death Certificate from hip-hop icon Ice Cube. In the previous post I wrote I went through side A of the album which he called the death side he painted a picture of black people and our own self-destructive behavior which is a sad state because the things he spoke of we are still in the same predicament it’s 25 years later. On to the birth side where he forces us to look in the mirror and address our issues individually and grow stronger as a nation. The birth side starts with an interlude of a child being born. The Birth: Dr. Bruce, telephone please, Dr. Bruce, telephone, please C'mon, c'mon, honey, push a little harder, it's not all that bad

I see the head

Push! Push!

C'mon!

C'mon, push!

C'mon, honey!

Push! It's a boy The black man and black woman have no further!

No beginning and no ending, before alpha, and after omega!

History and historians'll record

The black father and mother of morality, medicine, music and mathematics

The father and mother of all the nation of

Religion, philosophy, art, science and civilization!

No further!

All they can say about the black man

Is he was, he is, and he shall be!

Before him there were none

And after him, there will be no more!

Before we can make a way for the peace maker

We must kill, and get rid, of the peace breaker The next song is called I Wanna Kill Sam, this is another of my favorite off of the album the song is anti-military/history on slavery. Ice Cube did a masterful job of being creative with his storytelling skills. He told the story of slavery but spit bars in a modern time narrative. I Wanna Kill Sam The army is the only way out for a young black teenager

We'll provide you with housing

We'll provide you with education

We'll provide you with everything you need to survive in life

We'll help you to be the best soldier in the U.S. Of A

Because we do more before 7 A.M than most niggers do in their whole lifetime I'm comin!, I'm comin!

I'm comin!, I'm comin! I wanna kill him, cause he tried to play me like the trick

But you see, I'm the wrong nigga to fuck with

I got the A to the motherfuckin K, and it's ready to rip

Slapped in my banana clip

And I'm lookin'

Is he in Watts, Oakland, Philly or Brooklyn?

It seems like he got the whole country behind him

So it's sort of hard to find him

But when I do, gotta put my gat in his mouth

Pump seventeen rounds make his brains hang out

Cause the shit he did was uncalled for

Tried to fuck a brother up the ass like a small whore

And that shit ain't fly

So now I'm settin up, the ultimate drive-by

And when you hear this shit

It make the world say "DAMN!", "I wanna kill Sam" "Do the niggas run this moth-er-fuck-er?" "Momma! Some man at the front do'!"

"Sit yo' ass down"

"Uh hi, I have reason to believe that someone in

This household has just turned eighteen, am I correct?" Here's why I wanna kill the punk

Cause he tried to take a motherfuckin' chunk of the funk

He came to my house, I let 'em bail in

Cause he said he was down with the LM

He gave up a little dap

Then turned around, and pulled out a gat

I knew it was a caper

I said, "Please don't kill my mother", so he raped her

Tied me up, took me outside

And I was thrown in a big truck

And it was packed like sardines

Full of niggas, who fell for the same scheme

Took us to a place and made us work

All day and we couldn't have shit to say

Broke up the families forever

And to this day black folks can't stick together

And it's odd

Broke us down, made us pray to his God

And when I think about it

It make me say "DAMN! I wanna kill Sam" "I'm comin'!" Now in ninety one, he wanna tax me

I remember, the son of a bitch used to axe me

And hang me by a rope till my neck snapped

Now the sneaky motherfucker wanna ban rap

And put me under dirt or concrete

But God, can see through a white sheet

Cause you the devil in drag

You can burn your cross well I'll burn your flag

Try to give me the HIV

So I can stop makin babies like me

And you're givin' dope to my people chump

Just wait till we get over that hump

Cause yo' ass is grass cause I'ma blast

Can't bury rap, like you buried jazz

Cause we stopped bein' whores, stop doin' floors

So bitch you can fight your own wars

So if you see a man in red white and blue

Gettin' chased by the Lench Mob crew

It's a man who deserves to buckle

I wanna kill Sam cause he ain't my motherfuckin Uncle! "We've gone nowhere in 200 years?" "That's correct"

"We-we-we've gone nowhere in 200 years?" "That's correct"

"We-we-we've gone nowhere in 200 years?" "That's correct" Black Korea an interlude about black neighborhoods plagued with foreign owners bleeding the community of money with corner stores and liquor stores and the money never circulates back through the neighborhood a problem we still haven’t overcome 25 years later. Ice Cube delivers a scathing critique of the Black community being lazy, not helping each other out and contributing to their own downfall via gangs, drug dealing, jealousy, and caring about materialism. Black Korea Every time I wanna go get a fuckin' brew

I gotta go down to the store with the two

Oriental one penny countin' motherfuckers

That make a nigga mad enough to cause a little ruckus

Thinkin' every brother in the world's out to take

So they watch every damn move that I make

They hope I don't pull out a gat and try to rob

They funky little store, but, bitch, I got a job

"Look, you little Chinese motherfucker

I ain't tryin' to steal none of yo' shit, leave me alone!"

"Mother fuck you!"

Yo, yo, check it out

So don't follow me up and down your market

Or your little chop suey ass'll be a target

Of the nationwide boycott

Juice with the people, that's what the boy got

So pay respect to the black fist

Or we'll burn your store right down to a crisp

And then we'll see ya

Cause you can't turn the ghetto into black Korea "Mother fuck you!" The last song I want to discuss is titled Us where he really goes in depth with our flaws and tells us to take accountability for our own actions. Us Could you tell me who unleashed our animal instinct? And the white man sittin' there tickled pink Laughin' at us on the avenue Bustin' caps at each other after havin' brew We can't enjoy ourselves Too busy jealous... at each other's wealth Comin' up is just in me But the Black community is full of envy Too much back-stabbin' While I look out the window I see all the Japs grabbin' Every vacant lot in my neighborhood Build a store, and sell their goods To the county recips You know, us po niggas; nappy hair and big lips? Four or five babies on your crotch And you expect Uncle Sam to help us out? We ain't nothin' but porchmonkeys To the average bigot, redneck honky You say comin' up is a must But before we can come up, take a look at US [Verse 2] And all y'all dope-dealers... You're as bad as the po-lice- cause ya kill us You got rich when you started slangin' dope But you ain't built us a supermarket So when can spend our money with the blacks Too busy buyin' gold an' Cadillacs That's what ya doin' with the money that ya raisin' Exploitin' us like the Caucasians did For 400 years - I got 400 tears- for 400 peers Died last year from gang-related crimes That's why I got gang-related rhymes But when I do a show ta kick some facts Us Blacks don't know how ta act Sometimes I believe the hype, man We mess it up ourselves and blame the white man But don't point the finger you jiggaboo Take a look at yourself ya dumb nigga you Pretty soon hip-hop won't be so nice No Ice Cube, just Vanilla Ice And yall sit and scream and cuss But there's no one ta blame- but US [Verse 3] US ... will always sing the blues Cause all we care about is hairstyles and tennis shoes And if ya step on mine ya pushed a button "Cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin'" Just like a beast But I'm the first nigga ta holler out {PEACE, BLACK MAN} I beat my wife and children to a pulp When I get drunk and smoke dope Got a bad heart condition Still eat hog-mogs an' chitlin's Bet my money on the dice and the horses Jobless, so I'm a hope for the armed forces Go to church but they tease us Wit' a picture of a blue-eyed Jesus They used to call me Negro After all this time I'm still bustin' up the chiffarobe No respect and ignored And I'm havin' more babies than I really can afford In jail cause I can't pay the mother Held back in life because of my color Now this is just a little summary Of US, but yall think it's dumb of me To hold a mirror to ya face, but trust Nobody gives a fuck about... Reading the lyrics is one thing and listening to the album is an entirely other, to get the true emotional grit and meaning from one of the world’s most renowned lyricists be sure to grab a copy of Ice Cube’s Death Certificate. #blacktruth #icecube #antwanfloydsr #kingofcrime