Hip Hop legend-in-action [and seemingly the modern blueprint for every other new emcee that emerges] Jay-Z has collaborated with respected journalist and former editor of The Source, Dream Hampton, on a new book titled Decoded – set for international release this November.
Throughout its 336 pages the hardcover, illustrated book mixes first-person memoir – tracing Jigga’s life from Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects his now legendary status in Hip Hop and music history – with ‘detailed discussions of his most famous and provocative lyrics’.
Alongside interviews with his friends, family and the rapper himself, Decoded will also explore Jay-Z’s creative process.
When Rolling Stone spoke to Jay-Z for our June 2010 cover story, he talked about why he was reluctant to release the autobiographical work, even though it was completed several years ago. “It’s too much. For the book, I was interviewed, people close to me were interviewed. So I was learning a lot of things I didn’t know as a child,” Jay-Z told RS. “It’s not anything I haven’t said in the past, in songs. It’s just more detailed. A song is three minutes long. A book doesn’t have to rhyme, and it has no time limit, so you can say exactly how everything went.”
Jay-Z also admitted he was most affected by parts of Decoded that concerned his father, who abandoned the family when Jay-Z was 11. “It was still wrong, at the end of the day, but he did stick around at a time where it wasn’t particularly cool or popular,” Jay-Z said. “He married my mom at a time when guys were just leaving, and you’d never even meet your dad. So it made me ease up a little bit in how I felt about him.”
Since Decoded was completed several years ago, it remains unclear whether the book will feature additional chapters detailing Jay-Z’s last few years, including The Blueprint 3, his 360 deal with Live Nation, being a part owner of the New Jersey Nets and, his most guarded subject, his marriage to Beyoncé. —RollingStone
Can we assume monster sales for this one?
As a fan of Dream Hampton’s work, I anticipate Decoded will be a compelling, much talked-about read.
One for the wishlist.
Decoded is released on November 16 in the US via Spiegel & Grau / November 18 in the UK via Virgin Books.
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