On September 23, Forbes published its annual Cash Kings of Hip Hop list. Dr. Dre, CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, blew the competition away, his earnings from 2014 of $620 million placing him at number one. According to Forbes, Dre earned the most in one year of any artist that has ever been evaluated by Forbes—these massive earnings coming from Apple’s recent $3 billion purchase of Beats.
Following Dre, Diddy and Jay-Z tied for the number two spot, each earning $60 million. Diageo’s Ciroc Vodka deal, DeLeon tequila , Blue Flame marketing, Sean Jean clothing line, and Revolt TV company pushed him to $60 for the evaluated period. Jay-Z’s earnings for the period were his highest since 2010. His Roc Nation empire, new D’Ussé cognac, Barney’s collaboration, and 68 concerts brought him to the top of the charts. Not to mention, his deal with Samsung to buy 1 million copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail brought the record to platinum status before it was even released.
Drake made it to the fourth spot on the list earning a total of $33 million for the designated period—this has more than tripled his 2013 earnings of $10.5. 4 million copies of Nothing Was the Same sold worldwide, an arena tour, and an endorsement deal with Nike’s Jordan line delivered the Canadian rapper his fat checks.
Interestingly enough, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis beat out Kanye West for spot number five, earning $32 million to West’s $30 million. The Seattle duo won four of seven Grammy awards for which they were nominated. West’s extremely lucrative Yeezus tour helped him get a 50% bump in his annual earnings. Though not so easily measured, West’s media attention due to his marriage to Kim Kardashian probably had some impact on his earnings.
Nicki Minaj stood out as the only female on the list, earning $14 million as well as the number 11 spot. Despite leaving behind her spot as a judge on American Idol and minimal tour dates, Minaj scored endorsements from MAC cosmetics, OPI nail polish, and Pepsi. She even launched her own wine, Myx moscato. These earnings allowed her to beat out Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, and Kendrick Lamar.
To compile this list, Forbes measures the pretax earnings of Hip-Hop and Rap musicians, which includes income from touring, record sales, publishing, merchandise sales, endorsements, and other ventures using data from Pollstar, RIAA, Nielsen Soundscan, and interviews with managers, lawyers, music executives, and even the artists themselves. These calculations do not include deduction of any management, agent or attorney costs.
The Whole List:
1. Dr. Dre ($620 million).
2. Diddy & Jay-Z ($60 million)
4. Drake ($33 million)
5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ($32 million)
6. Kanye West ($30 million)
7. Birdman ($24 million)
8. Lil Wayne ($23 million)
9. Pharrell Williams ($22 million)
10. Eminem ($18 million)
11. Nicki Minaj ($14 million)
12. Wiz Khalifa ($13 million)
13.Pitbull ($12 million)
14. Snoop Dogg ($10 million)
15. Kendrick Lamar ($9 million)
16. Ludacris, Tech N9ne, Swizz Beatz, and 50 Cent ($8 million)
20. Rick Ross, J. Cole, DJ Khaled, Lil’ Jon, and Mac Miller ($7 million)
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