NEWS: Jay-Z Hypes New Book Decoded

Jay-Z's long awaited book 'Decoded' will finally hit bookstores November 16, the book is a narrative of the famous lyrics and overall life of the multi-platinum rapper.

Decoded will break down 36 of his most iconic songs which will be accompanied by illustrations, Jay hopes the book will prove that hip-hop is a fine art form like poetry.

"When I first started working on this book, I told my editor that I wanted it to do three important things," Jay-Z explained in a statement. "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."

In a video posted on Amazon to promote 'Decoded', Jay also revealed details about how he'll break down his songs, including the inspiration behind "Most Kingz." "'Most Kingz' just happened to be inspired by a Basquiat drawing," Jay said. "He had 'Most young kings get their head cut off' on the bottom, and I looked at that and was like - it’s powerful. Just the statement in itself lends itself to a song."

Here's an excerpt from 'Decoded'

"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."