Hov's first book comes in behind George W. Bush's 'Decision Points' and Laura Hillenbrand's 'Unbroken.'
By Jayson Rodriguez
Jay-Z
Photo: John Parra/ Getty Images
Jay-Z might be able to best Elvis Presley when it comes to topping the album charts, but the Brooklyn MC wasn't able to muscle past former president George W. Bush on the book list.
The witty wordsmith-turned-author debuted at #3 on the New York Times Best Sellers list with his first book, "Decoded," a collection of the rapper's lyrics deconstructed with the help of co-author Dream Hampton.
The former prez's book "Decision Points" topped the Hardcover Nonfiction list for the second time in as many weeks. Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" was the top debut, notching the #2 slot.
Jay-Z went on a heavy promotional campaign for "Decoded," making appearances on the "Late Show With David Letterman," "Charlie Rose" and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." He also partnered with Microsoft's Bing search engine for a portal that doubled as a scavenger hunt-like game where readers who decoded Jay-Z's lyrics would unearth scripts of his lyrics in the locations he referred to in song.
In the past, Jay-Z promised to deliver a memoir, co-authored by Hampton, titled "The Black Book." But the rapper subsequently revealed that the material was too personal and decided to pull the plug on that project. "Decoded" does get personal nonetheless, as evidenced during passages such as the one in which the "Empire State of Mind" star recalls the death of the Notorious B.I.G.
"I wanted people to have the proper context of rap, the generation, what we went through, these emotions behind these songs," Jay-Z told MTV News earlier this month. "A song like 'Lucifer,' it's really about the struggle and really about dealing with death and having that feeling. The evil is inside of you, not this mythical character with pitchforks and things like that. Dealing with a feeling of wanting revenge."
Related Videos Related ArtistsHaylie Duff Camilla Belle Jennifer Love Hewitt Elena Lyons Marisa Coughlan
No comments:
Post a Comment