Riot Music: Black Korea
47 seconds. That’s the length of ‘Black Korea’, Track 15 of Ice Cube’s 1991 sophomore solo album ‘Death Certificate’.
47 seconds. That’s all it took to show the world the racial tension bubbling in Los Angeles circa 1991.
47 seconds.
Ice Cube wrote and recorded these 47 seconds in response to the shooting of 15 year old Latasha Harlins by 51 year old Korean liquor store owner Soon Ja Du, a murder premeditated by an intense racial distrust between the African-American and Korean populations of the local area. An inter-minority conflict that would end up costing Los Angeles millions.
Hit the jump to understand the murder and the mentality that lead to both this track and the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.
