Have you ever wondered where rappers get their lyrics from? What inspires them? Why the people from “the hood” have the stereotype of being hustlers and drug dealers? Or have you ever thought about how a rapper who grew up in the Marcy Housing Projects of Brooklyn, New York became a well known music icon, a business mogul and a billionaire? If you do, then this book is the right choice for you to read. As it is written by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, he tells about his life story and how it relates to the rap industry. Essentially, within Decoded Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter wanted to let his life story be an example of how the rap industry evolved from the streets to becoming mainstream, how black people were known to be crack dealers to becoming the first black president. He also wanted to talk about the stereotypes that are in place today by setting himself as the main example. As he breaks down his lyrics and their meanings to tell a story about a culture. This is made clear when Jay-Z states, “When I started working on this book, I told my editor that I wanted it to do three important things. The first thing 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.”- Excerpt from Decoded. Decoded has many strengths, while keeping the weaknesses to a minimum. Throughout the book, Mr. Carter did a good job breaking down his lyrics and their true meanings, while exposing the truth about many listeners. As many listeners who turn an ignorant ear to rap, hear one line and make an impression on the whole industry, but they do not listen to any of the other lyrics and the meanings of them. He also did a good job defending the reasons why some kids were selling drugs and reveals the truth that that was the only thing that they could do to earn money as many of their parents were crack addicts themselves. Next, while reading this book, you begin to have a motivational mindset, as Shawn Carter’s life is a perfect example to always be determined and focused. On the other hand, there aren’t really any weaknesses I would say this book has. In terms of the books placing in the literature of its subject, it should be placed somewhere in the middle. Although, the content of the book should place it high up in the literature, the informal writing styles places it in the middle of the literature. In conclusion, this book is a very informative and motivational book and should be read by many to correct the view of the rap industry, as well as correct the stereotypes that have been tagged along with black people.
Have you ever wondered where rappers get their lyrics from? What inspires them? Why the people from “the hood” have the stereotype of being hustlers and drug dealers? Or have you ever thought about how a rapper who grew up in the Marcy Housing Projects of Brooklyn, New York became a well known music icon, a business mogul and a billionaire? If you do, then this book is the right choice for you to read. As it is written by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, he tells about his life story and how it relates to the rap industry. Essentially, within Decoded Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter wanted to let his life story be an example of how the rap industry evolved from the streets to becoming mainstream, how black people were known to be crack dealers to becoming the first black president. He also wanted to talk about the stereotypes that are in place today by setting himself as the main example. As he breaks down his lyrics and their meanings to tell a story about a culture. This is made clear when Jay-Z states, “When I started working on this book, I told my editor that I wanted it to do three important things. The first thing 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.”- Excerpt from Decoded.
ReplyDeleteDecoded has many strengths, while keeping the weaknesses to a minimum. Throughout the book, Mr. Carter did a good job breaking down his lyrics and their true meanings, while exposing the truth about many listeners. As many listeners who turn an ignorant ear to rap, hear one line and make an impression on the whole industry, but they do not listen to any of the other lyrics and the meanings of them. He also did a good job defending the reasons why some kids were selling drugs and reveals the truth that that was the only thing that they could do to earn money as many of their parents were crack addicts themselves. Next, while reading this book, you begin to have a motivational mindset, as Shawn Carter’s life is a perfect example to always be determined and focused. On the other hand, there aren’t really any weaknesses I would say this book has.
In terms of the books placing in the literature of its subject, it should be placed somewhere in the middle. Although, the content of the book should place it high up in the literature, the informal writing styles places it in the middle of the literature. In conclusion, this book is a very informative and motivational book and should be read by many to correct the view of the rap industry, as well as correct the stereotypes that have been tagged along with black people.