Death Certificate Language Analysis

Hip-hop history, especially that of gangsta-rap, falls prey to repetition; and only through repetition, may the reemergence of the novelty appear in the what has already been said. The what has already been said in the history of Hip-hop will appear anew merely by exhausting out of what has previously been said. It is imitation’s quality of wearing out words of the previously said that presents us with new histories. Once those words have been worn out, the what has already been said becomes lifeless and dull. Once lifeless, and plastic, may the emergence of new discourses be presented to us. Therefore one can infer that this is how new discourses are employed, through the exhaustion of the previous ones. Thus, history works through imitation …show more content…
In his album, Death Certificate, he has been able to reduce and edit down its’ messages through the use of slang and or “street language.” Instead of having his language disguised with many cloaks, like the excessiveness of words used to supplement the poetic function within the statement, he edits and refines the excessive language to its innermost core, to obtain the “real” meaning of the statement. That is why in this album, he reveals the language of the “streets.” For example, in the opening of the song “Us”, he raps, “Could you tell me who released our animal instinct? / And the white man sittin’ here tickled pink / Laughin’ at us on the avenue.” In examining this, one sees that he not only realizes the white man’s imposition on “black behavior”, but one also sees that Ice-Cube is ready to retaliate by expressing his own oppression to the masses. By revealing the “real” language, known as gangsta-rap, he not only disrupts the what has already been said, but he is also able to exhaust it out through exploitation, in order to create new conversations to be had. The formation of discourses is built upon this idea: the idea of draining the life out of the living to make them appear lifeless and plastic in order to create a new life for the living. To create and sustain a new life for the living, one needs to trace out the trajectory of its’ course. Tracing out the trajectory is a tedious and complex task, such as why Ice-Cube eventually exhausted himself out by his very own