You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.
Ray Douglas Bradbury
To be honest I’m really not a huge Jay-Z fan. I like him and I believe his music can be revealingly witty (at times). However, too often he abandons that path for the fast, commercial commerce road that many of his juniors take because (unlike him) they actually have no other alternative. It has been widely accepted that his first CD Reasonable Doubt is one of the best LPs of its time and without question, one of Hip Hop’s classics. Unfortunately, Jay-Z hasn’t come close to ever doing that again – and why would he since it was one of his least profitable -- and that my friends is where the music satire begins.
Naturally, as art would have it, his book Decoded reads like Reasonable Doubt (reincarnated) with a hint of Sam Greenlee’s The Spook Who Sat by the Door and the commerce from this book is sure to follow. The semi-autobiography highlights the interesting crossroad between the streets & the suites and by the time Mr. Carter is done you are really not sure what side of the fence is safer, more profitable or more immoral. Additionally, if you were in his shoes the quizzical path you may choose. Just image the dynamics of a 14-year-old paying the light bill so that your mom can have enough light to sign the truant letter denoting her teen son skipping school? This is a scripted tale within this scripted tale.
Decoded tackles the paradox of loyalty and what makes Shawn, Jay-Z and vice-versa. It literally reads like a season of HBO’s The Wire – and you’ll find yourself rooting for the bad guy, because the so-called “good” guy’s hustle is just as foul -- just not as illegal – which in itself should be criminal.
Decoded is the epitome of irony in the most straight-forward, concise manner. You'll learn a great deal about language and how great Hip Hop is far more complicated than the inane people who are too lazy or unqualified to analyze it. The lyrical ending in many of the book’s chapters seems to be directed at many of those people. Honestly, you don’t have to be a fan of Jay-Z or Hip Hop to find enormous value in this book. And, if you happen to be a fan of either, it’ll be a blueprint that you’ll treasure for years – no doubt!
Click on link for bonus beats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBE4A_If0Uw
1 love,
Ray Lewis
