In Most Kings, Jay-Z’s lyrics express how fickle people can be how they love to build you up only to break you down. He highlights the nature of human beings to support and cheer for you when your success feels attainable to them—when it aligns with what they believe you deserve. This creates a sense of connection, allowing them to attach themselves to your success as if it were their own claim to fame. However, he goes on to show how quickly this changes as your success grows. At a certain point, people begin comparing you to others, and suddenly, where you were once celebrated and highly regarded, you are now told that you don’t measure up. He stresses how this is an impossible battle—one that cannot be won. In his case, he was being compared to legendary rappers who had passed away, with pointless, unanswerable arguments about whether he would have even made it if they were still alive. But the reality is—they aren’t here, and he did make it. So with opinions flowing non stop from voices both big and small, where does it end?

If he allowed these comparisons to shape his self-perception or dictate his movements, he would never escape the cycle of scrutiny and torment—it would continue until it ultimately consumed him. He emphasizes that seeking approval, awards, or validation from others is futile, because the very people who give can just as easily take away. The song paints a gritty, dark, and raw picture of the hearts and minds of human beings, exposing how deeply envy and strife are rooted in human nature.

When you consider where Jay-Z came from—the struggles and hardships he and those around him endured—you can only imagine the thoughts of someone still trapped in that same struggle, lost and desperate for a way out. Watching someone who was once on your level rise above you, the world and every obstacle in their path can trigger something almost uncontrollable within. Where you once celebrated the hometown hero, you now find it hard to clap because their success no longer feels like a shared symbol of pride—it feels like a distant mirror reflecting your own reality.

He highlights the painful truth that no matter how close someone is to you, human nature struggles to handle watching a former peer grow beyond them.  Instead of seeing it as a reflection of what’s possible, it begins to feel like a reflection of their own shortcomings. It feels personal—like a betrayal. You’re not better than me. You changed. You left us behind.

Jay-Z speaks on how success and fame make you a target for everyone’s projections and pain—how the immense pressure drives many to drug abuse and or self-destruction.  Some kings, like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., who created monumental change, were murdered because their existence and influence were too great a threat to those who wanted everything to stay the same. In music and art, the same thing happens, but more often, they kill you with their words here—breaking you down until they silence you or push you to destroy yourself. From Jesus to Martin, to Malcolm, to Nipsey, the story just repeats itself through the ages, yet everyone still wants to be famous.

He exposes the reality that life is hell with money and hell without it, leaving the lingering question—is any of it worth it? Or is it all just “a chasing after the wind”, a relentless search for peace that we will never find? There will always be people who crucify with a smile, taking joy in tearing down while the greats suffer and die for their hard work and the change they bring to the world… & life goes on.

The conclusion of Most Kings is the confidence and mindset of Jay Z —his approach to the industry, life, and his way of thinking. He does not place his value in people, and because of that, there is nothing they can give him or take away from him. He speaks with the power of a man in control of his own destiny and narrative, never stopping, never willing to be stopped, no matter what comes his way—always aware of what’s happening. Ears to the streets, fingers on the curb, always willing to do whatever is necessary, and always ready to let you know not to let the necessary occur—YUP!

‘Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.’

Ecclesiastes 1:17-18