WEST COAST RAP ICON ICE CUBE SIGNS TO INTERSCOPE RECORDS
Preps Reissue Of Politically Charged Album Death Certificate
Lead Single “Good Cop, Bad Cop” One of Three New Additional Tracks
Interscope Records is pleased to announce signing of West
Coast rap icon, Ice Cube. Known to be one of the most important figures
in rap history, Ice Cube began his career with the Notorious West Coast
Gangsta Rap Group N.W.A over two decades ago. At the height of the
group’s success, Ice Cube broke away to start his own solo career. With
over 10 million albums sold to date, Cube joins the label after several
years of releasing music independently on his own Lench Mob Records
which includes his Gold Certified 2006 opus “Laugh Now, Cry Later,” the highest selling independent hip hop release of the year.
“We
are thrilled to announce that Ice Cube has joined the Interscope
family. He’s obviously one of the legendary figures in hip-hop…that’s a
massive statement on its own, but he’s so much more than that. Cube
has an incredible body of work, and as a fan I’m honored to welcome him
to the label,” states John Janick, Chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen
A&M.
The first project under the deal will be a 25th Anniversary edition of Ice Cube’s highly controversial second album. Death Certificate: 25 Anniversary Edition will release on June 9th. The re-release will
feature three new songs, “Only One Me,” “Dominate The Weak,” and the
sinister lead single, “Good Cop, Bad Cop.” Originally released on
October 29, 1991 and produced by OG Cube cohorts, Sir Jinx, and the
Boogiemen (DJ Pooh, Bobcat, and Rashad Coes), the incendiary LP, which
debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and
sold over five million copies worldwide, takes a potent look at life in
South Central through the eyes of one of reality rap’s greatest and
grittiest storytellers.
Recorded in the wake of the Rodney King beating in 1991, Cube artfully contextualizes the harsh material he delivers on Death Certificate,
declaring a “state of emergency” and breaking down the original
20-track opus into two parts. “The Death Side,” he says firmly, is “a
mirror image of where we are today” while “The Life Side” represents “a
vision of where we need to go.” The album’s revolutionary tone is
established with the opening rager, “The Wrong Ni*** To F*** Wit.” The
new material brings equal amounts of fire to the already stellar
collection.
Rapidly
traversing from guns (“Man’s Best Friend”) to gangs (“Colorblind”), Ice
Cube leaves no stone unturned, attacking hot-button issues affecting
the Black community with the ferocity of a lion. “Black Korea” addresses
tensions in the ’hood after the shooting death of an African-American
girl by a Korean grocer; “A Bird in the Hand” laments the lack of
gainful employment opportunities for young Black males; “Look Who’s
Burnin’” is upfront about the proliferation of sexually transmitted
diseases among Black youth.
Nevertheless,
activist and scholar Angela Davis took the artist to task for his
overtly sexist imagery on the songs “Givin’ Up the Nappy Dugout” and
“Horny Lil’ Devil.” The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights
organization, publicly denounced Death Certificate, calling the
album anti-Semitic for comments on the now infamous diss track, “No
Vaseline.” The state of Oregon even went as far as making it illegal for
local retailers to promote Ice Cube in any way, shape or form.
James Bernard, then-editor of hip-hop magazine, The Source,
clapped back at the album’s more mainstream critics with an official
statement that said they were “too dainty and thin-skinned to hear the
anger, rage and frustration that many people are forced to deal with
every day.” In a review of the album for Entertainment Weekly, Bernard wrote, “I’m not arrogant enough to wag my finger at someone for stridency or incorrect language when many of his
friends are dead and many of the rest are either in prison or standing
on the corner surrounded by burned-out buildings and dying dreams.”
Despite all the surrounding controversy, Death Certificate
was heralded a musical masterpiece and Ice Cube ultimately received the
accolades he deserved for his incisive and revelatory socio-political
commentary. Twenty-five years later,
Cube maintains the album’s relevance. “Sadly, our community is dealing
with many of the same issues,” he says. “I only hope that young
millennials feeling powerless in the ’hood can channel their own anger
and frustration by listening to this record.”
Death Certificate: 25 Anniversary Edition will be available for pre-order on June 2nd. The bombastic new song, “Only One Me,” will be made available for early download as an instant grat track.
Tracklisting
The Death Side
1. Only One Me
2. Good Cop, Bad Cop
3. Dominate The Weak
4. The Funeral
5. The Wrong N**** To F*** Wit
6. My Summer Vacation
7. Steady Mobbin’
8. Robin Lench
9. Givin’ Up The Nappy Dug Out
10. Look Who’s Burnin’
11. A Bird In The Hand
12. Man’s Best Friend
13. Alive On Arrival
14. Death
The Life Side
15. The Birth
16. I Wanna Kill Sam
17. Horny Lil’ Devil
18. Black Korea
19. True To The Game
20. Color Blind
21. Doing Dumb Sh**
22. Us
23. No Vaseline
source: Lench Mob Records / Interscope Records