Outside the Lines With Rap Genius
Sene Excerpt #5 -- Jay-Z
SameOldShawn: ...About “Backboards,” we talked about it on your verified Rap Genius account! But there’s something in that tune and a couple others as well - you set Jay up as this kind of icon to a lot of Brooklyn kids

Sene: Yeah. He’s a father figure for those that had none in the house. And he gives you advice growing up. He tells you things that, you’re like, “Oh, that’s right!” It’s really like having this kind of Geppetto, but like this real slick Geppetto. And I know people were like, “Oh, he’s saying he’s praying to Jay-Z,” but it’s not at all praying to Jay-Z. It’s about him being a father figure. And also at the same time, it’s alluding to the fact how people pray to him, basically. So it’s just a little double entendre