S. Samuel
Rap executives Jay-Z and Diddy have once again topped Forbes' annual Hip-Hop Cash Kings List of 2011 while rap rivals Rick Ross and 50 Cent tied for their gross earnings.
Jay and Diddy toppled their competition, in front of rap stars Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Birdman.
Jay-Z (aka Shawn Carter) leads all comers once again with $37 million in earnings since last August. A majority of the dough is proceeds from his Blueprint 3 tour. Nipping at his heels, however, is fellow mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who raked in a neat $35 million from his Bad Boy record label, his Sean John clothing line and his lucrative Ciroc vodka deal. West may have landed at No. 3, but he’s a ways down there at “only” $16 million. The rest of the top 10 had similar years, revenue-wise, with Cash Money honcho Bryan “Birdman” Williams tying Lil Wayne for the next two spots with $15 million, showing that tha Carter isn’t doing too bad, either. (E! Online)
Rounding out the rest of the Top 10 is Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Akon and Ludacris.
Eminem, Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre are holding fast with $14 million; Akon scraped together $13 million and Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges earned most of his $12 million from his Tag body spray and Trojan endorsements, as well as scene-stealing roles in Fast Five, No Strings Attached and the upcoming New Year’s Eve. (E! Online)
The remaining artists included some newcomers like Atlantic Records rapper Wiz Khalifa.
This year’s list features plenty of newcomers. Besides the aforementioned Wiz Khalifa, there’s Nicki Minaj, who debuts at No. 15 with $6.5 million–making her the first female rapper ever to grace the list. Another, Atlanta-based rapper-singer-songwriter B.o.B, squeaked on with $5 million. Sandwiched between Minaj and B.o.B is an additional newbie, Pitbull, who released two albums, performed 50-plus shows and inked a seven-figure endorsement deal with Kodak. (Forbes)
This year’s list also paved way for former auto-tune hitmaker T-Pain and Miami’s Pitbull.
Drake $11 mil, Pharrell Williams $10 mil, Timbaland $7 mil, Swizz Beatz $6.5 mil, Nicki Minaj $6.5 mil, Rick Ross $6 mil, 50 Cent $6 mil, Pitbull $6 mil, T-Pain $5 mil, B.o.B. $5 mil (Cash Kings 2011)
