The recent release of Jay-Z’s new memoir/coffee table art book/lyric anthology “Decoded” comes at an interesting time for rap scholarship. The book’s appearance coincides with Yale University’s “The Anthology of Rap,” which is what it sounds like, an enormous collection of rap lyrics transcribed onto paper. Although they seem only tangentially related, these two works works highlight and emphasize something that rap fans have long been waiting for: the growing legitimacy of rap lyrics as an art form to be respected rather than derided.
Unarguably rap’s greatest success story, Jay-Z is perfectly positioned to guide the rap noob towards a new understanding and appreciation for both the art of hip-hop lyricism and the social and musical context that gave birth to this uber-genre.
In “Decoded” he tells his story with finesse and intelligence, interspersing detailed lyrical explications of many songs from his catalog with engrossing narratives from his life. The topics of these narratives are varied and interesting, including such subjects as his childhood in Marcy Projects, his devotion to the art of lyricism, his involvement in the world of drug dealing, his relationship with and views on Barack Obama and many, many others.
Frequently, the songs that he chooses to take a closer look at are related to the narrative sections that preceded them. For instance, in the chapter entitled “Honor Among Predators,” Jay-Z spends a good amount of time detailing the dangers that go hand in hand with dealing drugs, and then looks at three songs in depth: “Coming of Age,” “Coming of Age (Da Sequel) and “D’evils.”
These songs all function as narratives and are worthy examples of Jay-Z’s storytelling prowess. In the first two songs, an older drug dealer recruits a younger one off the street, impressed by his hustle, only to have that younger man nearly turn on him before rethinking his position and declaring loyalty. “D’evils” from Jay’s first album Reasonable Doubt, tells us a lot about the mindset of the hustler, relating a story about a man kidnapping his best friend’s girlfriend in order to find out where his former friend is so that he can murder him.
Interestingly, these dark songs are all from early Jay-Z albums, which means that the chapter about the dangers of drug dealing punctuates its lessons with songs from a period in which the author was contending with those dangers.
The narrative parts of “Decoded” are compelling, not only due to their subject matter (drug dealing, money and fame), but also due to their attention to detail. When he describes his first meeting with Damon Dash, the business partner with whom he founded Roc-a-Fella records, he remembers that Dash was “a Harlem dude through and through – flashy, loud, animated” and that Dash later told him [Damon] was impressed because Jay “Had on Nike Airs, and dudes from Brooklyn didn’t wear Airs.” These details lend a huge amount of personality to the narrative sections, making them all the more interesting to read.
As for the lyrical explications, they tend to be unequivocally excellent. Although there are a few obvious slang explanations for the older reader (“bread” means money, etc.) even the most thorough rap aficionado is bound to find something that he or she didn’t notice beforehand. For instance, “Easter egg” (which is what Jay-Z calls subtle wordplay) from the very popular “Empire State of Mind.”
The line is from a verse which talks about ambitious girls new to New York: “and in the winter gets cold in vogue with your skin out.” Jay-Z points out that the way he “plays with the flow” on this line makes the first few words sound like Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of American Vogue. This kind of wordplay comes standard, and can be seen on many of the songs in the book.
The shortcomings of “Decoded” are extremely minor. On occasion Jay-Z (or more likely his ghostwriter – the book often reads as if it were dictated to a third person) gets overly scholarly – on the third page of the story, the comparison of the projects to a Moroccan Bazaar sounds a little ridiculous. Then too, there is the problem of reading rap lyrics.
Without knowing the way the rapper uses the words on the page, which ones he emphasizes, stretches, or clips, it can become a bit tedious to follow the flow of the lyrics. But these are small complaints.
“Decoded” is a beautiful, interesting book which provides the reader with a hefty amount of information, not only about Jay-Z, but about rap itself.
4 stars out of 5
