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Watch It Here: Jay-Z Talks 'Decoded' With Cornel West

November 15, 2010 5:15 PM ET

Jay-Z's hotly anticipated new book, Decoded, comes out Tuesday, and along with an interactive treasure hunt and a swank party in Miami, he's also promoting the book in a somewhat more highbrow way tonight: a talk at the New York Public Library hosted by noted author/professor Cornel West and the library's Paul Holdengräber.

Tickets for the event are completely sold out, but we'll be streaming the event live on RollingStone.com when FORA.tv presents LIVE from the New York Public Library: Jay-Z in Conversation with Cornel West and Paul Holdengräber." The event starts at 7 p.m. ET.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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