Reading Jay-Z's decoded

I recently picked up a copy of Jay-Z's Decoded, and I'm about halfway through reading it. The book works as a bit of biography, and a bit of hip-hop history, offering some serious insight into his writing process and his mindset while writing songs.
One particular story is about the writing of "Big Pimpin'", and how he was going through some legal issues at the time with an assault charge. The song was a way to triumph when it looked like the deck was stacked against him.



He's a compelling storyteller, and the lyric notes are especially enlightening. These sections are the nitty gritty of the 'decoded' part of the book. I was somewhat worried that the notes would take away some of the mystique of the words, but frankly, I'll be listening to his lyrics, and certainly all hip-hop and rap lyrics, with a different ear after this book.
I'd recommend against getting the e-book version though, it's kind of a pain in the ass to jump back and forth from the lyric to notes on an e-reader.

It works as a broad autobiography, but not strictly a humble-beginnings-to-superstar sort of way. He jumps around a bit in service of grouping songs together thematically.

Here are a couple excerpts from the book in an MTV article published around the time of the book's release.

A good read for hip-hop enthusiasts, great read for Jay-Z fans.