Immortal Technique's Dance With The Devil

Immortal Technique tells the semi-fictional tale of a young man and his self-destructive path in “Dance with the Devil.” The story is riddled with causality, biblical and spiritual references, and overtones of socio-ethnic observations. The listener follows “Billy Jacobs” along his gradual descent into corruption; from small time drug deals to rape and murder. Immortal Technique is able to narrate a horrific timeline all the while filling every single verse with injections of commentary ranging from mythological and religious ethics, such as The Seven Deadly Sins and Oedipus, to American cultural values and racial identities. “Dance with the Devil” could easily be considered as the 20th Century, Hip-hop version of “Oedipus Rex.”
By the end of the first four lines of verse one, Immortal Technique has identified the character, and defined him by his Envy, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, and Pride. Envious of the rich and powerful, Billy wishes to live a life of excess and have the entire world know of his greatness. As the first verse closes, the only sin not identified with Billy is Wrath, as we see his Slothful behavior leads him to drop out of school. Despite not ever actually speaking about the Seven Deadly Sins together, Immortal Technique emphasizes them individually in rhetorically powerful areas. Five sins are identified within the first four lines of the song; the last word of the first verse is “Greed,” the first few lines in the second verse describe his Wrath, the first time the music changes is a point where Billy is drowning in Envy, and right before the ultimate twist of fate in the song, Billy is feeling a huge swell of Pride. Pride is almost always described as the deadliest of the Cardinal Sins, and Immortal Technique does an incredible job of displaying exactly why that is so. Throughout the story it is the drive to be respected, feared, and looked up to that dominates the actions of Billy Jacobs. But nowhere is his Pride more distinctly identified than the first four lines of verse four. At this point in the story Billy Jacobs has just committed an unbelievable act of horror, and is moments away from another. Instead of feeling guilt or remorse for these heinous acts, Billy feels nothing but absolute Pride. Part of the reason that Pride is often identified as the deadliest sin is because it puts one in a position that rivals God, and was exemplified by the rise of Lucifer. Billy Jacobs feels God-like on top of a building in the rain as he is about to take this woman’s life, and this fills him with courage and strength (4). This absolute