Although Kendrick Lamar and Drake will be enemies for the rest of eternity, they are still quite ahead of the financial competition in hip-hop. But alas, one of them has to come out on top. In 2025, that was K.Dot. Forbes recently put out their list of the highest-paid artists of the year, and Kendrick claimed the spot as the top-earning rapper.
However, he is fourth on the overall list with $109 million. Ahead of him are The Weeknd at number one with $298 million, Taylor Swift with the silver medal thanks to $202 million, and Beyoncé boasting $149 million in the third spot. After the Compton lyricist, there's Coldplay with $105 million, Shakira with $105 million as well, and then we get the 6ix God at number seven with $78 million. As you might expect, much of these numbers come from touring revenue, catalog deals, and more.
As for Drake's gargantuan streaming success, his streaming revenue is reportedly close to $50 million. This estimate places him as the artist with the second-highest-earning catalogue of the year behind Taylor Swift, in addition to his concert dates in 2025. Drizzy and his rival are the two highest-paid rappers of the year, and for good reason.
Kendrick Lamar's "Grand National" Tour Revenue
Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar's "Grand National" tour alongside former label mate SZA (number 20 on Forbes' list) represents a massive chunk of his 2025 earnings. The trek was incredibly successful, bringing in $358.7 million and breaking multiple records in the process. Also, the late 2024 release of the GNX album meant that 2025 still held a lot of commercial music success in the year, and we can't wait to see what happens next.
The same goes for Drake, whose upcoming ICEMAN album is reaching a fever pitch of anticipation. While he has a lot of other things to deal with like a civil RICO lawsuit over his Stake involvement and his UMG lawsuit's appeal over "Not Like Us," he's a great multitasker.
Will 2026 crown a new rapper on Forbes' estimated financial throne or will this binary continue to dominate? At the end of the day, what fans will care about most is the music.
