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Here’s the in-studio footage from Jay-Z’s appearance on The Howard Stern Show. Following the sit-down, he speaks on their conversation in a post game interview.

Decoded,” Jay-Z’s first book, published Tuesday (Spiegel & Grau, $35) contain plenty of revealing moments in his life/ career.

“Decoded” provides unique insight into what shaped and continues to shape the 40-year-old hip-hop icon, from being abandoned by his father, his early mistakes in the rap game, and his approach to creating the music that has defined rap for almost two decades.

But Jay-Z mainly does it the way he best communicates – through his lyrics. By “decoding” his songs – some famous, some obscure – he offers readers a unique vantage point of the mogul born Shawn Carter.

On the eve of the book’s release, Jay-Z talked about its meaning, while offering his thoughts on President Barack Obama, the legal woes of Lil Wayne and T.I., and why Kanye West was right about President George W. Bush the first time around.

The Associated Press: Why did you decide on this kind of book rather than a traditional autobiography?

Jay-Z: I wanted to tell the story of a generation. Through my story, I’m telling the story of a generation of kids, and we grew up in one of the worst eras ever. … Just to tell the story of my generation through music, and through that give a deeper understanding to rap lyrics and to make the case that rap is poetry. … Maybe there is other layers and meanings and things to be decoded in songs.

AP: What were the challenges of putting “Decoded” together?

Jay-Z: The hardest problem was getting the lyrics right, ’cause I don’t write them down, so, we had to find them somewhere, and a lot of those songs I forgot. So I had to listen to them again and then look at the lyrics and then say, “No, that’s wrong.” So the hardest part was really getting the lyrics right. Source

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