Diddy and Drake made a lot of money over the last year, more than $220 million combined and are undoubtedly the Hip-Hop Cash Kings.
The two rap titans are by far the highest earners in hip hop this past year, according to Forbes magazine. Sean “P. Diddy” Combs made a whopping $130 million, Drake made $94 million, JAY-Z made for himself $42 million, Dr. Dre raked in $34.5 million, and Chance the Rapper made $32 million who round out the top five. So you can see Diddy is leading the pack by far and is one step closer to being hip hop’s first billionaire with a current net worth of over $800 million.
Diddy is undeniably the Hip-Hop Cash King of the last decade and this year he added a lot more cash to his pocket thanks to his Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour, his ownership stake in Diageo’s Ciroc vodka, and the sale of a third of his Sean John clothing line. That sale alone raked in $70 million for the hip hop mogul. Drake has had a hugely successful year both on the road and on digital media. He was the most streamed artist on Apple Music over the past year and he also made a lot of money from endorsement deals with Apple, Nike, and Sprite. The bulk of his $94 million was made touring for his Summer Sixteen Tour with Future and his Boy Meets World Tour in Europe.
JAY-Z and Beyonce are the first billionaire couple in hip hop but JAY-Z is pulling the most weight thanks to his $200 million deal with Live Nation and Sprint investing $200 million in TIDAL. Dr. Dre significantly increased his net worth when he and his business partner Jimmy Iovine sold Beats by Dre to Apple. That deal alone earned the rapper/producer a whopping #620 million back in 2014 which is the highest payday for any musician in history. Over the past 12 months, he made $34.5 million from royalties from his vast catalog and ongoing payment from Apple. Chance the Rapper banked a cool $33 million despite being an independent rapper who never sold physical copies of his albums. He distributes his music solely digitally. He also made some big bucks from endorsement deals with Apple and Kit Kat.
Check out the full list.
1. Diddy – $130 million
2. Drake – $94 million
3. Jay Z – $42 million
4. Dr. Dre – $34.5 million
5. Chance the Rapper – $33 million
6. Kendrick Lamar – $30 million
7. Wiz Khalifa – $28 million
8. Pitbull – $27 million
9. DJ Khaled – $24 million
10. Future – $23 million
11. Kanye West ($22 million)
12. Birdman ($20 million)
13. Swizz Beatz ($17 million)
14. Snoop Dogg ($16.5 million)
15. Nicki Minaj ($16 million)
16. Lil Wayne ($15.5 million)
17. J. Cole ($14 million)
18. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ($11.5 million, tie)
18. Rick Ross ($11.5 million, tie)
20. Lil Yachty ($11 million)
