The celebrated public intellectual offers a slim volume on an American musical icon.For readers who only know Jay-Z as Beyonc's husband, the latest by Dyson (What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation About Race in America, 2018, etc.) is a serviceable primer. However, for readers familiar with Jay-Z's music or role in popular culture, this brief book has little to offer. The publication coincides with the rapper's 50th birthday, and it reads as if it was rushed to make the date. The chapters are disorganized and consist largely of riffs that have often tangential connections to his life or work. Dyson's interests are wide-ranging, and some of his digressions are worthwhile in their own right. Ultimately, though, there's too much filler in a book that needed more material. It's no surprise that many of the tangents rehash older writings for which the author is already well known, and he also engages in excessive name-dropping, cringeworthy poetic affectations, and an attitude that sometimes feels condescending to readers and to hip-hop culture. In a long section on the late Nipsey Hussle, Dyson describes a time he sat by the rapper on a flight. As the two men "had an epic conversation," Nipsey "brought up the psychologist Abraham Maslow." This is a typical non sequitur meant to suggest to readers that Nipsey is worthy of our consideration because he is intelligent. The author frequently uses the same approach with Jay-Z, noting, for example, that the rapper uses many of the poetic devices employed by Robert Frost, Rita Dove, and other poets; of course, countless rappers use the same tactics. Dyson is usually far more insightful that this, and readers should turn to Julius Bailey's Jay-Z: Essays on Hip Hop's Philosopher King or Jay-Z's own book, Decoded, a masterpiece of music memoir. Pharrell contributes the foreword.Jay-Z deserves an in-depth study. This is not it. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In this astute cultural biography, Dyson (Tears We Cannot Stop) analyzes the impact of Jay-Z through his music--from his hard-knock life as a drug dealer from Brooklyn, to his becoming a billionaire rapper and husband of megastar Beyoncé. "The more I pore over his lyrics," writes Dyson, who teaches a course on Jay-Z at Georgetown University, "the more I realize that I am dealing with an extremely intelligent poet whose work matches the poets I've admired since childhood... Tennyson, Hughes, Brooks and Yeats." With lyrics including "I'm not a businessman; I'm a business, man! Let me handle my business, damn," Dyson cites Jay-Z's "use of braggadocio and allusion, signifying and double entendre, metaphor and homophones." Dyson explores how Jay-Z created profound, meaningful art out of bleak urban decay. "When we hear JAY-Z," Dyson writes, "we listen to the incomparable tongue of American democracy expressed by a people too long held underfoot." Dyson compares Jay-Z to Barack Obama ("both tremendously charismatic men... married to strong and brilliant women"), and recalls Jay-Z's campaign ads for Obama and a tongue-in-cheek song he performed on the eve of Obama's inauguration, featuring the line "My president is black/ In fact he's half white/ So even in a racist mind/ He's half right". Dyson's excellent study serves as a succinct blueprint of Jay-Z's artistry and legacy. (Nov.)

"[A]s transcendent a cultural icon as Frank Sinatra, as adventurous a self-made billionaire as Mark Zuckerberg, as gifted a poet as Walt Whitman." Dyson's (What Truth Sounds Like) laudatory biography places Jay-Z at the center of our cultural, social, and political times. The author's effusiveness comes through on every page, which--in lesser hands--would make this title one long fan letter, but it's a tribute to Dyson's prowess that he so effectively gives dimension and relevant context to each thoughtful interpretation of the artist's work, while his always fascinating tangents add depth. Under Dyson's guidance, to read about Jay-Z is to learn not just about the journey and works but also about ourselves, our history, our world, and our way forward. VERDICT This is more than a hip-hop bio; Dyson is giving us something larger, and we are sitting in a classroom under the spell of a captivating teacher.--Bill Baars, formerly with Lake Oswego P.L., OR

By scrutinizing Jay-Z's hustling, poetry, and politics, sociologist, writer, and theologian Dyson makes the case that he is a rapper who has reached Horatio Alger-level iconic status by his rise from Brooklyn drug-dealer to legitimate billionaire businessman. With a fun, opinionated discography and impressive richness, eloquence, and intertextuality, Dyson's portrait places the soon-to-be-50 husband of Beyoncé in cultural context for fans and the curious alike, linking Jay-Z's life and art to painter Basquiat, crooner Marvin Gaye, and poet Walt Whitman. The author rhymes, uses alliteration, and delivers Dyson-isms to describe Jay's endeavors (e.g., bright hustling created Jay's positive income streams; blight hustling hurt the community). Though he doesn't interview the artist, he makes his case that as a truth-telling racial unifier, political influence, and vocal evangelist for developing generational wealth in black communities, Jay-Z represents a symbol of ""overcoming"" for hip-hop culture and American society. At times Dyson sounds like a fanboy as he deliberately and refreshingly avoids rap-bashing, while quoted lyrics from profound, profane, tame, even lame songs by Jay-Z illuminate his artistic spectrum.--Sean Chambers Copyright 2019 Booklist