Thank you Jay-Z !!

I am a huge fan of clever poetry and song lyrics. I am a rabid fan of Jim Morrison as well as Ani DiFranco. I've bought most if not all of their music, and sought out their published and unpublished poetry. Yet, I barely own more than 4 albums of any rap or hip-hop music. Why am I such a poetry bigot and not considering other genres?

So, I made a decision to change about a month ago to open my mind a bit to other types of poetry and purchased Jay-Z's book 'Decoded'. This book is kind of his personal memoir, personal analysis of his lyrics as well as an insight about how rap developed over the years and what rap and hip-hop is really all about. And it's beautiful, filled with images, photographs and art.

Jay-Z says, "...the music is meant to be provocative, which doesn't mean it's necessarily obnoxious, but it is confrontational, and more than that, it's dense with multiple meanings. Great rap should have all kinds of unresolved layers that you don't necessarily figure out the first time you listen to it. Instead it plants dissonance in your head...It leaves shit rattling in your head that you won't make sense till the 5th or 6th time through. It challenges you."

There is no question this guy is brilliant. His narrative is fluid and precise, and his lyrics are so filled with double entendres and with the words working so sonically it's remarkable, he's...just...so..smart. As are many artists in this genre that I have basically overlooked for the most part for the past two decades.

This makes me wonder, what else have I been closing my mind to, and as a result missing out on? Do we as people just generally consume what is most familiar to us, or the easiest? Are we intellectually lazy and culturally insecure? Do we take snippets of info and only use those as the basis of our decisions? For example taking a line out of one of Jay-Z's songs, out of context, and out of the beautiful wrapping of the meaning of which it was intended and call it offensive? Do we shove out of context politically biased talking points (thanks FOX news) and shove them down the throats of Americans (yes) and therefore have masses of ill-informed opinion, because we are just too damn lazy to figure out the full story?

I'm committed to exploring, researching and learning more before I fully formulate my opinions. I am also going to work on having an open mind about more art and literature that comes my way...and of course music. I thank Jay-Z for all of that. I am going to itunes right now to buy 'The Black Album'.