i'm having a hard time understanding the message.
i did too, i needed to listen to get and get a couple interpretations from other people to actually make sense of it, but this is what i got from the song:
its essentially a message for the black community. the "light brother, dark brother, faux brother, real brother" bit is Jay saying that no matter what kind of black person you are: rich, poor, light, dark, whatever, you will always be a brother. you will always be a part of the black culture no matter how badly you may not want to be. this is complemented by the american-40s art style, and the "my skin is black" voice samples from Nina Simone
theres been examples of this with Kanye and OJ (why its called Story of OJ). Kanye and OJ are both black people who almost seem to run away from their culture. theres been a number of times OJ has apparently been quoted saying the words "Im not black, im OJ" implying hes something above his culture. like hes different kind of black person because hes successful and not the perpetrated stereotype that most people associate with black people. jay says that black people shouldn't victimize their past. its understandable, but its whats holding them back from being something greater than what they are now.
"please dont die over the neighborhood that ya mommas rentin" is obviously him talking about hood violence. if you're a rich drug dealer, dont send goons to go shoot up other people in the neighborhood to take their money or for pay back, ultimately risking your life, your income, and the reputation of your black community. "take yo drug money and buy the neighborhood". thats how you actually rinse your drug money and turn it into an even bigger profit for yourself. buy real estate and invest your money
he reinforces this point by bringing up dumbo. "i coulda bought a place in dumbo before it was dumbo, for like 2 million". DUMBO, or Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass, used to be called Gairville, so once it became dumbo he says "that same building today is worth 25 million.". had he bought that place for 2 million, the value and his own intake from the property would have sky rocketed, which is why he says he feels "Dumbo".
its just a song of helpful advice. Jay-Z is honestly probably one of the richest rappers in the world with a net worth of almost a billion dollars, but the reason he is so rich is because hes an actual business man, hes not just a "hard rapper", this song is essentially his wake up call to everyone else.
lines like,
"you wanna know whats more important than throwing away money at the strip club? CREDIT."
and the artwork bit, is his way of making real money without being thug or gangster, or anything stereotypical that you'd find in rap songs or in any rappers story.
TL;DR: the victimization the black community clings so closely to is whats holding them back from doing better than they are. accept that you are a "brother" and instead of doing what most brothers do like shooting up neighborhoods and holding stacks to your ears like you're some big shot, actually become a big shot. use your money wisely. invest it, buy things that will increase in value, ultimately increasing your value. think and act smart, and you gain even more success out of the success you already have in a way thats respectable. people will look up to you, ultimately causing people to look up to your culture because then, you wont feel like you need to disconnect yourself from it
