Jay-Z Decodes His Music Stash One Last Time

Music mogul Jay-Z is sending his New York Times bestseller Decoded back to bookshelves with a re-release that will feature additional explanations behind more of his enigmatic lyrics.

According to reports, the new edition will hit bookshelves early next month.

Just one year after Jay-Z's Decoded hit bookshelves, the New York Times bestselling book will be re-released on November 1. Featured in a new expanded paper back, the re-release will contain a new chapter, seven additional illustrations, three decoded songs: "I Know", "Young Gz", "Lost One" and a new afterword. (Rap Radar)

The new afterword from Jay's upcoming revitalized Decoded has also been unveiled.

"What still excites me about rap is that it's an open thread, a cipher that listeners find their own meanings in. The point of this book is not to settle arguments or transform rap songs into neat stories with a beginning, middle, and end. Rather, I'm trying to point readers to some ideas and information, get them to see deeper into the music than they saw before and learn more about worlds different from their own (or find new ways of looking at the worlds they already know)--to find their own meanings and connect them back to their own lives. I want readers to see the craft and learn the context--and I want them to still be able to feel the magic, and enjoy the show. --JAY-Z, from the new Afterword" (Decoded)

Jay's book broke into the New York Times Best Sellers list last November.

Jay-Z is no stranger to sitting high on the charts when it comes to his music career, which makes the Brooklyn rapper's No. 3 debut on 'The New York Times' Best Sellers list an expected achievement. The Roc Nation head honcho's memoir 'Decoded' landed on the Hardcover Nonfiction edition of the newspaper's Best Sellers list for the week of December 5. Coming in at the top of the list are George W. Bush's 'Decision Points' and Lauren Hillenbrand's 'Unbroken.' (The Boom Box)

Prior to its release, Decoded contributor dream hampton hit up SOHH to speak on the book's overall vibe.

"I think people are going to be surprised at how careful Jay-Z is when they read the book and how much of a thinker he is and how much he thinks about what he does. Obviously in hip-hop we his fans know he doesn't write anything down, but we shouldn't mistake that for thinking he's not a careful emcee [or] that his music isn't layered. [His songs] often have four or five different meanings. This book we started last year, summer of 2009, so it took a year [to finish]. When Jay told me in 2005 that the Black Book wouldn't come out and that he wanted to do a book about lyrics, even back in 2005, he was thinking about what this book was going to be. Even when you're in the studio with him looking like he's talking to himself, I'll try to talk to him and he'll be like, 'Yo, you're f*cking up my lyrics,' I didn't know he was sitting over there writing a song in his head. And so I guess that's what he's been doing with this book." (SOHH's Buy My Book)