Jay-Z To Release Memoir 'Decoded' In November

By Simone Hilliard

Those of us who thought Jay-Z's prolific lyrics were the only mirror we'd ever get into his world will receive a pleasant surprise when his memoir Decoded hits bookstores November 16th, 2010. 

Written several years ago by The Source editor Dream Hamtpon, Decoded traces Hov's life from his childhood in Brooklyn's infamous Marcy Projects to his life as a teen drug dealer and later becoming a hip-hop mogul. 

In a June interview with Rolling Stone, Hov discussed why he was reluctant to release the memoir:

"It's too much. For the book, I was interviewed, people close to me were interviewed. So I was learning a lot of things I didn't know as a child. It's not anything I haven't said in the past, in songs. It's just more detailed. A song is three minutes long. A book doesn't have to rhyme, and it has no time limit, so you can say exactly how everything went."

Jay-Z also candidly confessed to being the most affected by parts of Decoded that concerned his absentee father, who abandoned the family when he was 11.

"It was still wrong, at the end of the day, but he did stick around at a time where it wasn't particularly cool or popular. He married my mom at a time when guys were just leaving, and you'd never even meet your dad. So it made me ease up a little bit in how I felt about him."

The 336 page novel interviews Jay-Z's family and friends, and mixes first-person memoir with detailed discussions of his most famous and provocative lyrics.

Since Decoded was completed several years ago, whether an addendum that includes his most recent lps, marriage to Beyoncé, or his stock in the Nets, has been added is unclear.  But if Jay reveals the tight lipped secrets of his relationship, we're sure this book will sell millis! Agree?

Are you more interested in old or new Jay? Weigh in below or @MTV3.

Tags Chisme, decoded, Gossip, Jay Z, latin, memoir, Tr3s