Diddy has been named the highest-earning hip hop artist with $50 million in earnings over the last 12 months. The 43-year-old rapper’s portfolio is one of the most diverse in the game, with investments in the record label Bad Boy Records, Sean John clothing, Blue Flame marketing and advertising agency, Ciroc vodka and now his cable channel Revolt, which debuts on Time Warner and Comcast this fall.
The Hip Hop Cash King hasn’t always been a fan of the Forbes list though. On Rick Ross’s 2010 track “Another One”, Diddy raps, “Fu** the Forbes list lets tell the truth I ate more / I got a billion baby time to get 8 more.” While Diddy’s net worth isn’t over a billion dollars, he is half way there, with a reported net worth of $550 million.
Jay Z took the second place spot on the list with $43 million in earnings. The bulk of Hova’s earning were acquired through his live shows, Armand de Brignac champagne, D’Ussé cognac and Roc Nation businesses. While Jay Z’s new album Magna Carta … Holy Grail earned the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart thanks to a $5 million investment from Samsung, revenue from the album were not tallied into this year’s earnings because it fell outside of Forbes’ scoring period.
Below is the list of the Highest-Earning Artists in Hip Hop:
- 1) Diddy – $50 million
- 2) Jay Z – $43 million
- 3) Dr. Dre – $40 million
- 4) Nicki Minaj – $29 million
- 5) Birdman – $21 million
- 6) Kanye West – $20 million
- 7) Lil Wayne – $16 million
- 8) Wiz Khalifa – $14 million
- 9) Ludacris – $12 million
- 10) Pitbull – $11 million
- 11) Drake – $10.5 million
- 12) Snoop Lion – $10 million (tie)
- 12) Eminem – $10 million (tie)
- 14) Kendrick Lamar – $9 million (tie)
- 14) Pharrell Williams – $9 million (tie)
- 14) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – $9 million (tie)
- 17) Swizz Beatz – $8.5 million
- 18) Tech N9ne – $7.5 million
- 19) 50 Cent – $7 million
- 20) Lil John – $6 million (tie)
- 20) Rick Ross – $6 million (tie)
- 20) Mac Miller – $6 million (tie)
- 20) Young Jeezy – $6 million (tie)
- 20) Questlove – $6 million (tie)
