From “Steady Mobbin” to “Bird In The Hand” to “I Wanna Kill Uncle Sam” to “Givin Up The Nappy Dugout” to “The Wrong N**** To F*** With”, all the way down to the infamous and murderous “No Vaseline”, Cube delivered one of the greatest hip hop albums of the entire 90s and his best album period.ĭeath Certificate celebrated its 25th Anniversary and it’s still as classic today as it was then. Each disc is in semi-chronological order and each disc borders on just below the maximum 80-minute mark, equaling a combined run time of over two and a half hours The one thing I regret about the set is that 2Pac was never on a track with both Snoop Dogg and Dr. I can’t name one song I skip on this album when I listen to it, because Cube executed everything perfectly here. The concept was weaved perfectly and the album is honestly flawless. The album was split into two sides: The Life Side and The Death Side. The iconic cover, the hype surrounding it, the change in Cube and his attitude and even appearance (ditching the jheri curl), along with the controversies that he carried with him, this album was insane.Īt the time, Cube was rumored to be associated with the Nation of Islam, which would make sense considering the strong content here. This is one of my top 15 Hip Hop albums of all time. As the album struck gold domestically and shipped over 1 million copies worldwide, Laugh Now, Cry Later will have a special place in Cube’s discography for this reason, but in the long run? It’ll be seen as a disappointing effort that sold well. What makes this album stick out is the fact that it was his first independent album, allowing Cube to have creative control and see bigger profits off the success of the album. My biggest issue with this album is the inconsistent production, as I was never the biggest fan of Cube over generic Lil Jon or Scott Storch beats, but here we are. He created some dope songs like “Growin Up”, “The N**** Trap”, and a few others, but there’s also a few songs that completely fall short of expectations and hopes. Production isn’t cohesive, but Cube manages to put together a solid effort from a lyrical standpoint. However, quality wise, I must admit… this album lacks a lot. A lot of people see this as the comeback album and of course this album brought Cube back to music relevance.