Jay proceeds with what I believe to be one of the best verses of his career. Tears on the mausoleum floor, blood stains the Colosseum doors, lies on the lips of a priest, Thanksgiving disguised as a feast. Tainted beauty. Elaborate, magnificent, seemingly holy surfaces that distract from the depravity, violence, decay and corruption that lie underneath. Jay then references his car, attire and past as a drug dealer, almost as if saying that hes a part of the same historical tradition he first referenced. But its not until the next few bars when it all comes together. Im wondering if a thugs prayers reach, is Pius pious cause God loves pious? Socrates asked whose bias do yall seek? All for Plato (play dough), screech. Woah, a rapper referencing the Euthyphro dilemma? Jay is really operating on a higher level here.
I wont go into too much detail about the dilemma since that would take up an entirely new post. But it basically poses this question; is what society considers to be morally good commanded by God because it is truly morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by God? It asks the question of whether or not there is a definitive moral standard or if morality is completely relative and subjective. Jay is addressing this from two different perspectives which lead to the same conclusion. He looks at the dilemma from the point of view of its creator, Socrates, who was referencing the gods of Greek mythology, who are known to be biased and flawed despite their power. Since societys moral standards are coming from a biased and flawed source, those standards shouldnt be completely trusted or followed, giving way to moral relativism.
Where Jay really gets bold is his second perspective, the Judeo-Christian God who is perfect and infallible. As Frank Ocean states, these moral standards are meaningless if you dont even believe in its source. But Jay goes further with his Pius/pious wordplay. Theres the actual word pious which not only means religious but also a hypocritical display of virtue. Then theres Pius, the name of numerous Popes throughout history who often were, you guessed it, religious while showing a hypocritical display of virtue. It ties back to Jays earlier references of tainted beauty as well as what Jay believes to be the hypocritical nature of those in power, whether a god or man, who decide what is and what isnt morally right.
So whats the point of all this? Its an outright rejection of what society teaches to be moral in favor of a move towards individualism and living a life free of boundary. Since Jay has rejected this while giving his reason for doing so, hes now free to do whatever he wants, including indulge in materialism and drug dealing which he references earlier in the verse, two things that society deems as immoral. To drive this point further he ends his verse by comparing Kanye to Jesus and himself to the holy ghost. Blasphemous? Only to those who actually believe in who he references.
i really dont give a fukk about these threads, but this shyt got me dying.. 
Nas. Fans giddy over this album....been a while since u had a nice Nas album huh?
hov killed that! tell me more about how you met oprah and your wife/daughter/maid etc stunts on people's lives
held Down WTT lyrically. And it was no contest there.
@ this gay ass tumblr sh!t
