Rapper, Producer and now author Jay-z talks with Dr. West about his debut book Decoded

[Smiley and West]

	Rapper, producer, and now author Jay-Z talks with Dr. West about his debut book Decoded.

[Jan Voght]

Inspiring and fascinating conversation, thank you everyone.

[Lauren Cephus]

Wonderful...I could have listened for another 2 hours. I wish I could have seen it. Can't wait to get the book.

[True Father]

Great interview! This is hip hop! Here's my blog on it below
http://smileyandwest.ning.com/profiles/blogs/my-thoughts-on-the-jay-z

[ishmael street]

This what you call bridging the gap. The greatest tragedy of black america is the division between the youth and older generation but through music our generation inherit the smiles and cries of your songs which gaves us motivation to build pyrmaids out of the departed, depleted, and the hopeleness we visualize as children.

[karen bailey]

WoW! Thanks for sharing this! What a treat!

[Lauren Cephus]

This book coming out will hopefully be a good education for those who doubt! I love Oprah and fully respect her ability to constantly explore and understand things that she might not feel comfortable with. She is recommending this book to everyone. This book is the best thing since the Tupac classes that the LA universities tried to institute after his death (I believe there were some on the east coast as well). This is the next level to bridge the gap. It is nice to hear my contemporaries from other ethnicities pay homage to the evolution of hip hop...this tells me that the transition has begun. Like Jay Z said and I am paraphrasing...How can you teach hatred to a white child who looks up to looks up to the Jay Z, Biggie, Tupac etc? I have always felt it was going to be the music that would cross all culture lines. It has started people, it has started!

[Bri'on]

Deep! The children will lead the way.


ishmael street said:

This what you call bridging the gap. The greatest tragedy of black america is the division between the youth and older generation but through music our generation inherit the smiles and cries of your songs which gaves us motivation to build pyrmaids out of the departed, depleted, and the hopeleness we visualize as children.

[safirah chinwe]

the context of "commercial" hip hop is adversity, lust, perhaps frivolous and ostentatious celebrations. i wonder what exactly the book is decoding. i have a love/hate relationship with hip hop because i love the creative forms of expression that it births however i hate the industry that mass markets artists that satisfy the stereotypical "victim" of a crude/crass environment that fuels the machine to portray urban life as generally bleak conditions that leave few options (mostly illegal) to get money and get out to solely buy flashy things to prove that "you've made it". i guess cornel west and oprah cosign jay z because he has graduated from bragging about flashy cars to solidifying his industry contacts and collaborating with the right author to help him write this book. something has to be said for the folks who live in these contextual situations and don't end up like jay z and all the other successful urban icons. 2011 is not the year to tell folks that everyone can be like obama or jay z because that's misleading. 2011 is the year to use what we got to get what we want meaning a stronger black voice in the industry that allows for non commercial artists to be heard on the radio at least so we are not bombarded with the same top 10 artists every hour on the hour. hip can do so much better right now. i hope this book will help but again i really want to know what exactly is he decoding about hip hop.

[Cynthia Beard]

Excellent, intelligent conversation. Jay-Z is real impressive, and has now even been on the Charlie Rose Show, educating him. (I had just observed that Rose almost never interviews people of color) I had never appreciated Jay-Z's music & mystique like others (though I do like the New York song), but I am becoming a fan and must read his book, because I am impressed with his intellect. He sounds really well-educated, like he could pursue his PhD and become a professor, if he wanted :)