Decoded [Hardcover]

Jay-Z (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 2010

Decoded is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art form, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time.

“Hip-hop’s renaissance man drops a classic. . . . Heartfelt, passionate and slick.”— Kirkus, starred review

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2010: Like its multi-hyphenate author, Jay-Z, Decoded is many things at once. At its core, Decoded is an eloquent and candid memoir detailing the story of a man who was born in a Brooklyn housing project, spent his teen years dealing drugs on the streets of Trenton, New Jersey, and grew up to be one of his generation’s most successful artists and businessmen. But Decoded is much more than a memoir: it is an intensely personal homage to hip-hop, as written by a man who so clearly adores the art form; it is a rare glimpse of the unexpectedly deep meanings behind the most recognizable rap lyrics of the last decade; and it is a truly moving collection of essays on topics ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the decline of the music industry. Unconventional type design, line drawings, and photographs visually emphasize the author’s message that rap is a form that transcends and defies easy categorization. There’s not much in the way of celebrity gossip here, but what we get, instead, is a gritty and enormously compelling look inside the cultural phenomenon of rap, from one of the men who contributed so much to its shape. --Juliet Disparte

Jay-Z on Decoded

When you're famous and say you're writing a book, people assume that it's an autobiography--I was born here, raised there, suffered this, loved that, lost it all, got it back, the end. But that's not what this is. I've never been a linear thinker, which is something you can see in my rhymes. They follow the jumpy logic of poetry and emotion, not the straight line of careful prose. My book is like that, too.

Decoded is first and foremost, a book of rhymes, which is ironic because I don't actually write my rhymes--they come to me in my head and I record them. The book is packed with the stories from my life that are the foundation of my lyrics--stories about coming up in the streets of Brooklyn in the 80's and 90's, stories about becoming an artist and entrepreneur and discovering worlds that I never dreamed existed when I was a kid. But it always comes back to the rhymes. There's poetry in hip-hop lyrics--not just mine, but in the work of all the great hip-hop artists, from KRS-One and Rakim to Biggie and Pac to a hundred emcees on a hundred corners all over the world that you've never heard of. The magic of rap is in the way it can take the most specific experience, from individual lives in unlikely places, and turn them into art that can be embraced by the whole world. Decoded is a book about one of those specific lives--mine--and will show you how the things I've experienced and observed have made their way into the art I've created. It's also about how my work is sometimes not about my life at all, but about pushing the boundaries of what I can express through the poetry of rap--trying to use words to find fresh angles into emotions that we all share, which is the hidden mission in even the hardest hip-hop. Decoded is a book about some of my favorite songs--songs that I unpack and explain and surround with narratives about what inspired them--but behind the rhymes is the truest story of my life.

---

Review

“Compelling . . . provocative, evocative . . . Part autobiography, part lavishly illustrated commentary on the author’s own work, Decoded gives the reader a harrowing portrait of the rough worlds Jay-Z navigated in his youth, while at the same time deconstructing his lyrics.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
 
“One of a handful of books that just about any hip hop fan should own.”—The New Yorker

“Elegantly designed, incisively written . . . an impressive leap by a man who has never been known for small steps.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“A riveting exploration of Jay-Z’s journey . . . So thoroughly engrossing, it reads like a good piece of cultural journalism.”—The Boston Globe
 
“Shawn Carter’s most honest airing of the experiences he drew on to create the mythic figure of Jay-Z . . . The scenes he recounts along the way are fascinating.”—Entertainment Weekly


From the Trade Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau; First Edition edition (November 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400068924
• ISBN-13: 978-1400068920
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1.1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Composers & Musicians
  • #56 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Rich & Famous

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

158 of 166 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Preconceived Notions Will Be Shattered - Read it Before Your Friends Do, and They Will - Five Stars, December 1, 2010

By 

A Customer (Westport, CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Decoded (Hardcover)

Bedford Stuyvesant was his country, and Brooklyn was his planet. With these words we are led into a world that you cannot imagine, that no film can do justice to. It requires hundreds of pages to absorb, and with each page you become further and further immersed. The graphic work accompanying the printed message is among the best I have ever seen, and it will help you to understand this very special person.


Somewhere in every person's life if you can experience transformation from where you were born to what your soul intended you to become, there is always a MENTOR figure. Sometimes it is a teacher, a relative, or a friend, but always someone.


For Jay-Z it was Slate, who was among the first street rappers, before they even put a name on the movement. He would stand in a circle; he could go 30 minutes just rhyming, as though he was trained for it. The young Jay-Z would stand and just be mesmerized by Slate, who seemed like an ordinary fellow until he stepped into the circle, and Jay-Z would transform himself by uttering the words, I can do that.


And therein begins a WILD RIDE, from the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn to king of the hip hop movement. He would go from drug dealing and drug running to a billion dollar self created empire that would be the envy of any businessman. Years later, Russell Simmons another hip hop master, and mentor to Jay-Z would say, that one grows up wanting to wear a suit, but hip-hop would mean never having to grow up and instead one would wear sneakers to the board room.


Jay-Z Decoded will have an interesting audience. Yes there will the kids who will own it and never read it, but for those of us, who read this book cover to cover, I promise you that you will not put this book back on the shelf without being affected by it.


You will understand the hopelessness of ghetto life, of thousands upon thousands of young people who get destroyed before having a change to figure out what they are even involved with. Only a small number will come through the funnel to survive and thrive, and occasionally break out. Jay-Z is one who broke out, and every aspect of this life biography is fascinating to the uninitiated. Here's why?


* The money is not in the singing, it's in the producing, owning the company.


* Kids treated automatic weapons like clothing, they would wear them the way they would wear their sneakers.


* In the hood, it was life during wartime.


* Rap is the story of the hustler, and it is the story of the rapper himself.


* Jay-Z starts wearing clothes designed by Iceberg, a European Sportswear designer. Upon meeting the designer, they offer him free clothing. The rap star walks away and builds a billion dollar clothing company from scratch. The story is all here and like the rest of the book, it's a page turner.


* His views on politics will grip you. He meets Obama the candidate, and astutely figures out that the most important thing the future President brings to the table is that he will help millions of black kids realize that they can aspire to something other than being drug dealers.


* He tells the future President that in one moment we will go from centuries of invisibility to the most visible position in the world.


* From housing projects designed to warehouse lives, to knowing that the truth will always be relevant, he will tell you that it's not about brainpower but stamina, self-motivation, willpower, and standing up to the mental and physical challenge of meeting life head-on.


CONCLUSION:


I came to this book with an open mind, and I could not have been more pleased with it. From the discussions about Quincy Jones who revolutionized musical arrangements in his lifetime, to Bono and his commitment to use his celebrity and money to transform society, the whole book was an exercise in literary pleasure. It is a demonstration that Dag Hammarskjold the UN Secretary General who gave his life for peace was right when he wrote the following. "It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses". Thank you for reading this review.


Richard C. Stoyeck

99 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Complex reaction to this read, January 28, 2011

By 

Shamontiel L. Vaughn "Message from Montie" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Decoded (Hardcover)

I'm a Jay-Z fan. Period. But with that said, a music fan does not have to agree (or admire) every single thing an artist does. There were some parts in this book that I was flat out disgusted by and others I read and re-read.

Cons: I'm not a fan of the n-word. Period. While some may consider it a generational thing, I'm younger than Jay-Z (29), and I flat out don't have any respect for the word and will usually end up debating anybody who uses the word around me and DEFINITELY won't tolerate anybody calling me that. I think it's ridiculous that he wants people to let go of the entire history of the word but will then go into periods of the book where he reflects on how black people were treated historically, specifically during the Hurricane Katrina chapter.

He's still holding a grudge against Cristal because of what a representative said about not being able to control who buys his product. He felt that was racist. I can understand that. He felt like the rep used the wrong word. But then in the lyrics of one of his songs, he states that he wants Jehovah's Witnesses to stop being so uptight about him using the name "Hova" short for "Jehovah." He also brushed off anybody who was annoyed about the chorus of "99 Problems" and somehow believes that since he didn't talk about a woman during the song that no one should complain about him using the b-word. Whether it was used in the chorus or in the lyrics, it doesn't take much brainpower to figure out what "I got 99 problems, but a b---- ain't one" is referring to. Why not just not use it at all if you're not talking about a female?

Then there's a contradiction with him complaining about society looking at young, black men as troublemakers and thieves, but he goes right into rationalizing how brothas will steal just out of pure amusement (with money in their pocket), which proves the people who think lesser of them RIGHT. How does THAT solve anything? If anything, it makes "us" look worse.

The problem I kept finding in this book was that he rationalized his reasons for being mad and sensitive about some issues, but he had a habit of brushing off anybody else who was bothered by something he'd directly done, indirectly done or defended those who do. It was a little frustrating. I give him major kudos for putting himself on the spot during the experience he had with a reporter who wasn't fond of him wearing the T-shirt with Che Guevara. I really want to shake the hand of the reporter who called him out for that. Very good point about the contradiction between the T-shirt and the chain. I almost stopped reading the book altogether when he stated that people go to college because they're followers who see other people do it. Why is it so hard to believe that some people go to college because they LIKE learning, LIKE education and enjoy the culture?

Pros: I browsed through the footnotes about the lyrics. That wasn't initially interesting to me considering I own all of his CDs so I already know what many of the lyrics are, but there were some songs that I stopped to read the rationale behind. I found out some things I had no idea he meant by certain lyrics. And THANK YOU for pointing out that Scarface did not live until the end of the movie. I'm always amazed at how people admire "Scarface" when his story was so tragic in the end. I laughed a little when Jay-Z talked about people basically acting like only 2/3 of the film really happened. The story about the rapper Scarface was interesting, too.

Jay-Z is charming--in radio and television interviews. He was charming in this book. I was fascinated by his background (minus the drug dealing--I don't respect that at all). I enjoyed reading about his views on education, politics, hip-hop (so glad he mentioned some of my favorite lyricists like Big Daddy Kane and Rakim) and I was surprised he briefly threw in a little bit about an ex-girlfriend. Of course in true Jay-Z fashion, we never quite got WHY he broke up with her, only that he shared his disappointment with her about something he'd never done with anybody. There were some jokes that I laughed at (ex. why he can't rhyme Lil' Kim's lyrics but will recite Lauryn Hill's). I enjoyed reading about his experiences with Biggie, too.

I respected him for giving kudos to the "brave" people who would walk through the hood to go to a job at McDonald's. I'm happy he acknowledged the folks who didn't play the follower role. I never worked in the fast food industry, but I have a lot of respect for folks who have the patience to hold down those jobs especially with fast money surrounding them.

I read this book more to find out about his legitimate business life and background outside of the constant reminders that he used to sell drugs. Did I like it? Sure. Would I like to know more? Yup, but I doubt that other book will ever release in my lifetime (or his). Would I recommend it? Absolutely. He had an excellent balance of talking about the streets, the music industry, the business industry, a LITTLE bit about relationships (mainly friendships) and his take on politics, mainly President Barack Obama. Regardless of what reason you want to read about him, he covers it all (outside of his wife).

53 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is a must have..., November 25, 2010

By 

S. Samuel "it's just my opinion, right or wrong" (Jersey City, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Decoded (Hardcover)

This book is definitely one for your collection of good books based on hip-hop. I grew up in the Bronx during the 70's and 80's and a lot of the "rap" traditions and "crack" traditions he writes about are valid and true. Once you read through the book you will learn a few things. My favorite new fact was how Memphis Bleek was originally not going to do Coming Of Age. I won't spoil it for you.

While the book is great to read, it's also great to look at. The pages are thick. There are pictures on almost every page which relate to that particular topic. The art direction, overseen by Jay-Z, looks really good. Honestly, they should make this book a coffee-table edition.

Now, the reason I did not give this book a five is for two reasons.

1. I wanted more. I have a few songs and lyrics from him that I would have like to have seen addressed.

Example: "...the fire I spit burn down Happy Land / Social Club, we unapproachable thugs..."

Growing up in the Bronx, I knew what that line meant, but many people don't.

"Happy Land Social Club was an unlicensed social club in the Bronx. On March 25th 1990, 87 people were killed in an fire set by Julio Gonzalez."
- Wikipedia

That line isn't deep but it made me stop and say "Wow! I forgot about when Happy Land got set on fire."

2. It didn't address one of my 9 year discussion over a line Jay-Z says in You Don't Know (Blueprint).

"I sell ice in the winter, I sell fire in hell, I am a hustler baby, I'll sell water to a well/whale."

Either word works, but I'd like to know the true word. Did he intend to confuse us with a clever play on words?

Nevertheless, the book is great. The people who gave the book 1 star ratings didn't read the book, as they say in their reviews, so please rate those posts as unhelpful. However, If you actually read the book, and still give it one star, then that's justified.