Decoded
Jay-Z published Decoded in 2010, part memoir and part annotated lyric book. He selects songs from across his career and explains the meaning behind the lines, showing how his rhymes draw on his childhood in the Marcy projects, his years selling drugs, and his climb to the top of the music business. Alongside the close readings he reflects on race, money, fame, and the place of hip-hop in American culture, arguing that rap deserves to be taken seriously as poetry. The book is heavily designed, with images and visual flourishes that match its mix of autobiography and commentary. It gives readers a guide to his work in his own words while telling the larger story of how a kid from Brooklyn became one of the most successful figures in entertainment. It treats lyrics as texts worth studying.
What you might want to know about Decoded
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
The rapper and entrepreneur breaks down his own lyrics while telling the story of his life and the rise of hip-hop.
It blends memoir with an annotated collection of Jay-Z's lyrics, explaining the meaning behind his songs while telling the story of his life and career.
It is credited to Jay-Z, who worked with collaborators to present his life story and a close reading of his own work.
Decoded was written by Jay-Z, published in 2010 by Spiegel & Grau.
Decoded is 336 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Decoded takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Decoded is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.