Book Of HOV

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Book Of HOV

Jay-Z was born with an unimaginable skill of creating lyric after lyric. It's even hard now figuring out what he meant on some parts of the Reasonable Doubt album. So, we were approached by Duane Lawton. He has his own site were he goes in depth on all Jay-Z's popular lyrics. His stuff is for the real left over Rocafellas among us. Also check his site: www.bookofhov.com

Author of soon-to-be-released self help book:
"I Will Not Lose! Winning the mental game on the quest for success"
*Inspired by the song lyrics of Jay-Z
http://WintheMentalGame.net

Open Letter to Jay-Z

Friday, 03 February 2012 02:05 Duane L. Lawton

Dear Jay-Z, Congrats on the birth of your daughter, Blue Ivy.

Read the rest here:
Open Letter to Jay-Z

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Studying Jay-Z: Sociology Course Incomplete Without the Book of Hov

Sunday, 16 October 2011 16:12 Duane L. Lawton

Dyson & Jay-Z

Last night I was visiting one of my favorite websites, BlackElectorate.com when I saw an article that grabbed my attention. Apparently, Michael Eric Dyson, author, television political/social pundit and college professor is teaching a sociology course at Georgetown University about the social and cultural significance of Jay-Z’s music and career. Of course, when I heard about this I literally fell out of my chair. It’s quite remarkable to see just how far Hip-Hop music and culture has come. For much of its history, Hip-Hop has gotten very little respect but now it’s being studied in the halls of higher education.

Jay is not the first MC to have his work critically analyzed and lectured in universities (I heard about courses being taught about Tupac), but clearly Jay has reached a level not seen by any other MC and his music is arguably the most deserving of dissection by Dyson at Georgetown University. I’m a fan of Dyson. I’ve read a few of his books (I’m a big fan of Marvin Gaye and Dyson wrote a book about the legendary soul singer’s life).

Dyson is critical but also very fond of Hip-Hop culture. He’s often in the media defending Hip-Hop from the critics and educating the mainstream about the genius within the culture. I have a lot of respect for him and his work. He’s probably most qualified professor in the world to teach a course about Jay-Z. But, if there’s a course about Jay-Z’s music and career being taught anywhere in the world, my question is: Why isn’t ‘The Book of Hov’ on the required reading list?

Jay-Z’s Decoded, Greenburg’s Empire State of Mind and Bradley’s Book of Rhymes are on the required reading list for students taking Dyson’s course. I read Jay-Z’s and Greenburg’s books and they both are excellent. I’m sure Bradley’s book is a good read. With that said, I hate to do a ‘shameless plug’, 0 Comments / Leave A Comment

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VH1?s Planet Rock Documentary: Old School, New School Need to Learn Though

Thursday, 15 September 2011 02:18 Duane L. Lawton

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Jay-Z Back in the Day
Anyone who reads this blog or have read my book knows that I write extensively about how Jay-Z’s lyrics serve as a blueprint for greatness for the Hip-Hop generation. The thing is, Jay rhymes as an ex-street hustler and his lyrics reflect the principles of “the game” or “the life”. MCs like Jay-Z, Raekwon, Ghostface and Biggie hipped my generation to what was going on in the streets and the connection this had to Hip-Hop culture and the world. Either you lived it, respected it or rejected it. Nowadays, the new school of Hip-Hoppers most likely didn’t live it and don’t care one way or the other to respect or reject it. They “have the tattoos but not the true scars”. Follow me?

VH1 premieres a documentary, Planet Rock: The Story of Hip-Hop and the Crack Generation on Sunday, September 18 at 10pm (est). Narrated by Ice-T, it looks like it’s going to be a great watch. It’s must-see for those of us who truly respect the game because it wasn’t a game, it was real life for so many. It’s important to make and understand the connection between 80′s street economy (crack cocaine trade) and street culture (what we now know as Hip-Hop). I do think this connection, and, explicitly, the impact it has had on a generation and the world, has been underexplored at least in certain forms of media such as print and film. Of course, the connection has been explored in great detail in some of the greatest Hip-Hop albums ever made such as Big’s Life After Death, Nas’s Illmatic, Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt.

I’ve heard some fans (who I suspect would be considered “new school”) diminish or downright diss the aforementioned classic “criminality rap” albums and other rap music masterpieces that brilliantly provided the connection between the crack generation and Hip-Hop culture. I’ve heard both new school and ev...
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