Jay-Z 'Decoded' Songs Like 'Lucifer' To Give Rap 'Context'

MC's new book explains that Black Album song was about Biggie's murder.By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Sway Calloway





Jay-Z

Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images




For Jay-Z, the quick-witted lyricist turned author, emotion is at the heart of many of his rhymes. Such was the case behind "Lucifer," a rumbling Kanye West-produced number from 2003's The Black Album that found Jay-Z spitting a warning with quite a bite.
"Lord forgive him/ He got them dark forces in him," Jay raps on the track. "But he also got a righteous cause for sinning/ Them a murder me so I got to murder them."

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