First published 2019
Michael Eric Dyson draws from ten years of teaching Jay-Z's work to position the rapper alongside Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and Rita Dove as one of America's greatest poets. Dyson tackles the central themes that define Jay-Z's three-decade career, particularly his exploration of hustling culture and his consistent integration of political commentary into his music. The book examines how Jay-Z has addressed race, criminal justice, black wealth and social injustice throughout his recordings. As Jay-Z enters his fifties after thirty years as a recording artist, Dyson argues that the rapper has fundamentally shaped American discourse. He contends that Jay-Z's influence on the nation equals that of figures like Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump, or Martin Luther King Jr. Dyson demonstrates how Jay-Z has provided Americans with both conceptual frameworks and practical wisdom. The book includes a foreword by Pharrell and presents Jay-Z as an artist whose contributions to American culture have been undervalued despite his sustained excellence.
Genres: biography, american, african-american, non-fiction, music, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: biography, cultural-analysis
Setting: America
Period: 21st-Century
240 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press