Last week, Forbes revealed their "Highest Paid Celebrity" list, with Dr. Dre coming in at number five, as the sole representative in the world of hip hop. Now Forbes have released their list of Top 20 earners in hip hop over the past year.
Obviously, Dr. Dre leads the list, with $110 million in earnings, mostly stemming from the payout he received in his deal with HTC in selling his majority ownership of Beats By Dre headphones. He is the first hip hop artist to reportedly make nine figures, and crack the $100 million mark, since 50 Cent did it in 2007. Number two on the list, Diddy, also made the majority of his money from business ventures outside hip hop, with the sales of his Ciroc Vodka. Jay-Z and his Watch The Throne compatriot Kanye come in at number three and four respectively. The bulk of their earnings coming from their highly successful Watch The Throne tour.
Check out the list, via HHNM, of the Top 20 below along with a video from Forbes detailing the top earners.
1. Dr. Dre: $110 million
2. Diddy: $45 million
3. Jay-Z: $38 million
4. Kanye West: $35 milliom
5. Lil Wayne: $27 million
6 Drake: $20.5 milliom
7. Birdman: $20 million
8. Nicki Minaj: $15.5 million
9. Eminem: $15 million
10. Ludacris: $12 million
11. Pitbull: $9.5 million
12. Rick Ross: $9 million (tie)
13. Wiz Khalifa: $9 million (tie)
14. Snoop Dogg: $8 million
15. 50 Cent: $7.5 million
16. Swizz Beatz: $7 million (tie)
17. Pharrell: $7 million (tie)
18. Young Jeezy: $7 million (tie)
19. Mac Miller: $6.5 million (tie)
20. Akon: $6 million
