The autobiographical portion focuses on growing up in poverty which led to him to drug dealing during the crack epidemic, fights, and a need to share the hustlers story during the beginnings in rap.

He continues and describes the comparisons between drug dealing, rapping, and boxing and how his life in the streets has molded who he is and no matter how he lives now, he still acknowledges his roots.

Simon Vozick-Levinson writes in Entertainment Weekly "Despite the career he has made out of rapping in the first person, Jay-Z is known for prizing privacy.

Although Vozick Levinson expands and reveals "it is nonetheless Shawn Carter's most honest airing of the experiences he drew on to create the mythic figure of Jay-Z," while giving the book a grade of A−.

[4] Adam Bradley of Barnes & Noble criticizes the structure of the book because it is not organized by chronological order, but by subject as well as criticizes its lack of depth in some areas by explaining "At times, these subject-driven sections leave one dissatisfied with the level of revelation and reflection, such as in his cursory treatment of race relations.