Jay-Z "Decoded"

You KNOW something is wrong in the universe when I take my ass to a bookstore to purchase one of those crazy things out there called BOOKS. After hearing at least 4 bazillion (according to spell check, bazillion is a word...dope!) different people tell me that I absolutely NEED to go grab Jay-Z's new book "Decoded", I finally broke down and bought it. I'm glad I did.

Today was the first day in the history of the world that I bought a book, started reading it, and finished it all in the same day. The book is awesome. I honestly felt like I was sitting in a room with Jay while he was telling me the story of his life and breaking down the lyrics in his songs to me. Well, I pretty much felt like that, in all honesty if I was sitting in the same room with Jay I'd probably be nervous as fuck and feeling a trickling warm sensation going down my pants. ANYWAY...Jay and co-author Dream Hampton really put together something special here. Like I said, it feels like Jay is there talking to you, so the writing feels like a natural flowing conversation between him and an old friend. The real treat is the way the book is laid out. For most of the book, Jay tells stories from his life, then breaks down lyrics to songs that have to do with what he just talked about, then goes back to telling stores, and so on and so on. It sounds a bit jarring but it actually flows brilliantly.

I don't want to delve too deep into the book because, knowing me, I'll give away everything in the book and then there will be no need for you to buy it. But for real, go grab a copy of that book. If you're a Jay fan then you really have no excuse not to buy this book unless you're blind (go find it in braille) or illiterate (go get a pop-up book).

I think it's a dope book that any fan of Jay or hip-hop in general would enjoy BUT, that's just my humble opinion.