In his predictable new book, Decoded, rapper Jay-Z expounds on the creation of one of the most successful black businessmen in the country, while providing an in-depth analysis of some of the most redundant lyrics of his career.
Decoded shouldn’t be mistaken as an autobiographical account that exhibits Jay-Z and his wife’s — Beyonce Knowles — wedding pictures or lists their favorite dining spots in Abu Dhabi. In fact, the book is the complete opposite. Think of this book as a montage of memories, a historical account on hip-hop’s genesis, a lesson in Hustling 101 and a personal narrative on the transition from a drug dealer to a self-made business man.
From Soul Train lines in his living room in the Marcy housing projects in Brooklyn, N.Y., to rapping onstage alongside U2’s Bono to dining with Bill Clinton at the Spotted Pig in New York, Decoded is a hybrid of experiences that gives us an inside look on one of the most celebrated men in hip-hop.
“Everywhere I went I’d write,” Jay-Z says in the book. “I wanted to tell stories and boast, to entertain and to dazzle with creative rhymes, but everything I said had to be rooted in the truth of that experience. I owed it to all the hustlers I met or grew up with who didn’t have a voice to tell their own stories — and to myself.”
If you’re interested in the creation of crack cocaine and would like to acquire the knowledge of how to be a successful hustler, this is the book for you. Decoded delivers a clear synopsis of the art of hustling but does a mediocre job of justifying the creativity in the themes of his songs.
However, when he’s not talking about life on the streets or examining his lyrics, he is telling evocative stories of hip-hop’s conception, livelihood, sage forefathers and genius contributors.
“Chuck D famously called hip-hop the CNN of the ghetto, and he was right, but hip-hop would be boring as the news if all MCs did was report. Rap is also entertainment — and art,” he writes.
With the help of ghostwriter Dream Hampton, Decoded reads as a Miles Davis kind of “cool” account of a culture greatly influenced by jazz, blues, disco and bebop. While the book’s prose passages outshine the author’s poetic verses, the ultimate eye-catcher is its design.
Designer Rodrigo Corral impeccably creates an aesthetically appealing home for the words of Jay-Z. Andy Warhol’s “Rorschach” painting adorns the front jacket, and the fonts, illustrations and pictures come alive with the turn of every page.
Jay-Z flaunts his eye for quality work with his choice in writers and designers. He mentions a wealth of art greats such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Maya Angelou, Dizzy Gillespie and Gary Zukav. Proving that his artistic vocabulary and awareness transcends cultures and genres, Jay-Z’s compelling account of the art world is noteworthy.
“One critic said about Basquiat that the boys in his paintings didn’t grow up to be men, they grew up to be corpses, skeletons and ghosts,” he writes. “Maybe that’s the curse of being young, black and gifted in America — and if you add sudden success to that, it only makes it more likely that you’ll succumb, like Basquiat did in a loft not far from the one I live in now, a loft filled with his art.”
Decoded not only sheds light on the art behind hip-hop culture and its music, it succeeds in clearing up any misconceptions of rap’s poetic nature and artistic integrity. With the objective to make the case that hip-hop’s lyrics are poetry; to show how hip-hop created a way to take a very specific and powerful experience and turn it into a story; and to tell the world about the story of a generation, Decoded succeeds.
Jay-Z skillfully breaks down the rhetoric behind his lyrics and those of hip-hop’s great contributors. While his personal lyrics fall short of hip-hop’s versatile capability, his artistic vocabulary, impressive explanation of hip-hop’s universal ethos, genius design and clever marketing prove that Decoded is worthy of all its praise.
RATING: 4 stars out of 5
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