Empire State of Mind

Originally written by Angela Hunte and Janet Sewell-Ulepic as a tribute to their hometown, this song was initially rejected by Roc Nation before Jay-Z rewrote the verses and added Alicia Keys to the hook. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks in 2009, becoming Jay-Z's first number-one as a lead artist. The black-and-white music video shows the duo performing at various New York locations.