Death Certificate by Ice Cube

As a member of NWA and as a solo artist, Ice Cube has a tendency to write music that conveyed some sort of message, something he wanted people to react to, controversial or not. Death Certificate, Ice Cube's second solo album, has a cover that gives the listener an inkling of what they were going to hear inside.

The album cover has mostly darker shades of color which, at first glance, make the eyes become drawn to the bright colors of the American flag covering the portrayed dead body of Uncle Sam. The feet of Uncle Sam are the largest figures in the photo, making their importance much greater. Ice Cube is standing behind the body seemingly leering at the viewer, making the onlooker believe he or she is being forced into looking at the body.

“A personification of the federal government or citizens of the US” is the first part of the dictionary.com definition of Uncle Sam. This makes me assume that people see Uncle Sam as the epitome of everything the United States stands for including “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” as the Declaration of Independence tells us. His dead body in the photo conveys a message that Ice Cube believes that what the United States stands for has died off in his time. Uncle Sam is also not covered in a bag but by the American flag showing America's still belief in its constituted ideas.