With Jay-Z's commercial and financial success, some readers might be surprised that he feels any need to justify his art. ‘Things are going to break’: Texas power plants are running nonstop.52 buses carrying belongings of young gun violence victims drive to Ted Cruz's home.Olympic legend Carl Lewis named University of Houston's track head coach.A French transplant's quest to find a good croissant in Houston.Cops find full human skeleton in Houston family’s BBQ pit.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls out Texas heckler who filmed himself harassing her on the U.S.Texas Medical Association says hospitals are refusing to treat women with pregnancy complications.And the third piece was that I wanted 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." 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. When Jay-Z started writing the book, he told his editor he wanted it to do three 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. In keeping with Jay-Z's role as ambassador of hip-hop, Decoded examines the significance of this art form, giving it history, context, relevance. Chow's, Tao's, Nobu/ Hold up, let me move my bowels." Jean-Michel Basquiat on one page, Kurt Cobain on the next, followed by an image of a knife and fork paired with lyrics about the dark side of consumption: "How many times can I go to Mr. The textual riffs are just as comprehensive. It offers images of everything from city skylines to Paul Robeson to BIC lighters to Orphan Annie. Starting with the cover, which features one of Andy Warhol's Rorschach paintings, Decoded feels like a mixed-media project spliced with history. But how distant is the story of your own life ever going to be? The feelings I had during that part of my life were burned into me like a brand. People sometimes say that now I'm so far away from that life - now that I've got businesses and Grammys and magazine covers - that I have no right to rap about it. "I was on the streets for more than half of my life from the time I was thirteen years old. In the beginning of the book, Jay-Z explains how his early years defined him: "It's an American story: Kid from humble beginnings makes good." Signed copies of the book will be for sale.ĭecoded "shows the lengths an artist built off hip-hop can go," says Bun B, a Houston rapper and recording artist. In Houston, Brazos Bookstore will screen a live telecast of the conversation starting at 6 p.m. Cornel West, Princeton professor and public intellectual, will interview him. On Monday, the day before Decoded is released, Jay-Z will discuss the book before a live audience at the New York Public Library. It's a personal history of hip-hop through lyrics, lengthy footnotes that unpack those lyrics, images, essays and textual riffs. Search new homes Search Search Please enter a valid location or select an item from the list.Decoded is built around the lyrics to 36 of Jay-Z's songs.
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