30 Reasons to Love Jay-Z

It's difficult for any musician, nonetheless a rapper, to stay relevant for as long as Jay-Z has. Whether you've been with the Jigga man since his Reasonable Doubt days (his first album released in 1996), or just hopped on the Roc bandwagon after the release of his collaborative album with Kanye entitled Watch the Throne, there are many, many reasons to love Jay-Z.

When his career started, Jay-Z -- known back then as Shawn Carter -- was just another young man trying to use music as a way to escape the poverty of his surroundings -- at the time, the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, NY. Fast forward almost two decades, 16 albums, one high-profile marriage and a new-born daughter later, and Jigga is one of the most successful musicians pop culture has ever seen. Here's to the next two decades of Jay-Z's reign as rap king.