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Forbes Said Diddy Will Be First Billionaire Rapper

Forbes, who recently published their list of richest Hip Hop artists, said Sean “Diddy” Combs maybe the first rapper to cross the billion dollar mark.

Diddy currently top the list highest earners among Hip Hop artists, ahead of rap mogul Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Birdman and 50 Cent who round out the top five.

In a recent blog, Forbes’s Zack O’Malley Greenburg explained why Diddy, who’s worth a whopping $475 million, may be the first of the genre to make a billion dollars.

Greenburg said Diddy’s extensive branding with his Bad Boy imprint and clothing lines like Sean John and Enyce have already netted him hundreds of millions of dollars. Experts indicate, however, that Diddy’s involement with Ciroc vodka will prove to be essential to him reaching the billion dollar mark. Although Ciroc isn’t selling as much as its sister brand Ketel One, Diddy’s work with the budding vodka label may earn him nine figures in the future.

“The product is important,” says one equity analyst from Edward Jones & Co Jack Russo. “But the name on the product is about ten times as important…Ciroc is a very popular brand, and it’s been growing. It has that cache. It’s in the right spot in the right sector.”

“He makes his lifestyle coexist with everything else he’s doing,” said Hip Hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy. “The broad scope of his career and how he’s been able to stay relevant is one of the great examples of personal brand-building.”

Diddy’s networth currently sits comfortably at US$475 million, ahead of Jay-Z whose estimated networth is US$450 million.