By Gigi Abrantes

Since he first dropped his debut album in 1996, Jay-Z became an instant classic on the hip-hop scene. Now that he is about to drop his 11th album The Blueprint 3, MTV News takes a look back at the history of one of the greatest artists in rap history with The J to Z of Jay-Z.

He walked into the MTV Newsroom back in 2004 dressed in a striped button-down shirt, crisp brown jacket and smooth suede shoes. But none of what Jay-Z was rocking that day was as cool as the statement he was making: People in hip-hop shouldn't be afraid to grow up. At age 30, Jay-Z was concerned that he couldn't continue to be taken seriously as an adult and business man while dressed in a throwback basketball jersey.
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