My Bookshelf: Decoded by Sean Carter

“When I first started working on this book, I told my editor that I wanted it to do three important things. The first was to make the case that hip-hop lyrics—not just my lyrics, but those of every great MC—are poetry if you look at them closely enough. The second was I wanted the book to tell a little bit of the story of my generation, to show the context for the choices we made at a violent and chaotic crossroads in recent history. And the third piece was that I wanted the book to show how hip-hop created a way to take a very specific and powerful experience and turn it into a story that everyone in the world could feel and relate to.” – JAY-Z


Upon finishing Decoded by Sean Carter, aka Jay-Z, I thought like a master lawyer (think Johnny Cochran) he did an excellent job of defending his client - Hip Hop. And it is clear that Jay has an passionate bond with the music genre.

The book provided insight to what was going on in his world and how it influenced his lyrics. He accomplishes this feat by bringing the reader to the "crossroads" of his generation - hip-hop meets crack; and urban decay meets Reaganism. From this vantage point, hip-hip and Jay provide the gritty narrative of what unfolded.

Far too often, urban black males are presented as one dimensional tragic figures - they are drug dealing violent thugs we have to lock up and throw away the key. In Decoded, Mr. Carter brings us behind the caricature. A must read.