Deluxe expanded 25th Anniversary edition of the rapper's genre-defining album. Death Certificate is the second studio album by Ice Cube, originally released on October 29, 1991 by Priority Records. Highly anticipated with over one million advanced orders, the album was certified platinum in sales on December 20, 1991. Due to some of it's racially and politically charged content, and Ice Cube's acerbic statements on drug dealing, racial profiling, and the right to keep and bear arms, Death Certificate was the source of much controversy upon it's release. The recording and writing for Death Certificate began in early 1991, and carried on throughout most of the year. Similar to AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, Ice Cube was very active in the album's production, though the overall sound differed. Unlike AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, which featured The Bomb Squad's hard edged beats, Death Certificate featured a slightly more West Coast-oriented sound in comparison, with heavy use of 70's funk and soul samples.