Jay-Z's Lyrics Get "Decoded"

Ever been stumped by a Jay-Z lyric? Well, wonder no more. In his new book, Decoded (Spiegel & Grau/Random House), Hov takes you inside his life and rhymes.

Due November 16, Decoded is the first book written by the multi-platinum, 10 time Grammy Award winning entrepreneur and icon. Featuring an image of Andy Warhol’s Rorschach on the cover, the fully-illustrated book decodes 36 songs from Jay-Z’s extensive catalog and offers an intimate, first-hand account of an artist, his work and the culture.

In addition to the hardcover release, Random House will publish Decoded as an eBook, as well as an interactive iPhone/iPad application that will include exclusive video and customizable content that will allow users to delve into a deeper Decoded experience.

Check out an excerpt from Decoded below:

"When I first started working on this book, I told my editor that I wanted it to do three important 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. 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.  And the third piece was that I wanted the book 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."