Better Off Dead Lyrics

[Skit: Prison Guard, Ice Cube, Julian Bond]
Yeah
Got him now
Hey, Cube! Cube, boy!
What, what? Whattup?
Get your ass UP!
Ohh, shit
Time to go!
Ooh, man, shit
We goin' for a 'little walk
*Close 7*
'Ey, man. 'Ey, man!
What?
I never did like you
Open it up!
Strap him in!
All right, calm down
You got any last words?
Yeah, yeah, I got some last words
Fuck all ya'll!

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Was America willing to maintain order, no matter what the cost?

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About

Genius Annotation

The intro to Ice Cube’s debut album, Amerikkka’s Most Wanted, finds him being sent to the electric chair and executed.

Producer Hank Shocklee used skits to engage the listener and keep them hooked throughout the album. While Amerikkka’s Most Wanted was noted for the production of The Bomb Squad, Cube expressed how much Sir Jinx meant to the creation of the album:

Jinx helped put together so much stuff on the record, including the skits like ‘Better Off Dead.’

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Ice Cube say about "Better Off Dead"?
Genius Answer

Hank Shocklee, of The Bomb Squad, said this about the skits on the album:

It was important to me that the album had glue to it. The most underrated part of that album was the skits….Everything should just meld together into each other, you can’t let anything die down. Once you’ve got the listeners engaged, you want to keep them there.

From Check The Technique: Volume 2 by Brian Coleman.

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