Why is it not a surprise that Jay-Z is all over this one?  Jay-Z has been talking about Dead Presidents ever since Reasonable Doubt in 1996 and his relentless pursuit of C.R.E.A.M. has been documented thoroughly on every album.  In 2010, he was associated with some major firsts for hip-hop and was (again) at the vanguard for advancing the levels of wealth and power achievable through the culture:

1.  Forbes Magazine – On the 2010 edition of the Forbes 400 issue, Jay-Z became the first rapper to ever grace the cover of the venerable magazine which has come to be synonymous with wealth and power.  As a further symbol of the heights to which hip-hop has ascended, he was accompanied by Warren Buffet,  the 3rd wealthiest person in the world (at an estimated net worth of $47 Billion).  Jay is not there (yet), but in that Forbes 400 issue, he was estimated to be worth a cool Billion by 2015, putting him on track to be hip-hop’s first billionaire.  Check out the conversation between Jay-Z and Buffet below and click the pic above to read the article:

2.  Decoded – The Forbes Billionaires (and soon-to-be billionaires) list wasn’t the only list Jay-Z graced for the first time in 2010.  He launched a state of the art marketing plan for his semi-autobiographical book Decoded, in which he deciphered some of his most famous lyrics.  It included a global scavenger hunt for pages of the book.  The result?  He became the first rapper to have a book debut on the New York Times Best Seller list, landing at #3.

3.  Home and Home Tour – 4 nights, $15 million.  Nuff said.  The per night average of $3.75 million was BY FAR the highest per show average in hip-hop history and was only topped by 1 act (Metallica) in 2010.  That’s BIG, pimpin’.

Click here for more reasons why 2010 was the best year ever in hip-hop.