Forbes has released its annual World’s Highest-Paid Hip-Hop Acts list for 2018 and coming in strong at number 1 is Shawn Carter aka Jay-Z, beating out Sean Combs aka Diddy, who led the list for three consecutive years.
It is reported that the multifaceted hip-hop mogul racked in 76.5 million dollars this year. The release of joint album “Everything Is Love” and the #OnTheRunTour both with wife, Beyoncé, helped bring in quite a bit of those dollars. Additionally, Jay has ventures in real estate, fashion and hospitality.
Diddy comes not too far behind ranked second on the list. The mega-entrepreneur bagged 64 million this year also from various ventures but mostly in part from his beverage empire consisting of #Ciroc vodka, DeLeón tequila and Aquahydrate alkaline water.
Kendrick Lamar has secured his position as a serious hip hop money maker coming in at no. 3 on the list, making an impressive 58 million from tour sales and #Nike and AMEX endorsements.
Some of your favorite hip hop artists who made the Top 10 are: Drake coming in at no. 4 with $47 million, J. Cole at no. 5 with $35.5 million and Dr. Dre and Nas tied for no. 6 with $35 million. Surprisingly this is the first time Nas has made the list since his debut with Illmatic in 1994.
Other notable artists on the list are: DJ Khaled at no. 11 with $27 million, Travis Scott at no. 15 with $21 million, Lil Uzi Vert at no. 17 with $19.5 million and Logic at no. 19 with $17 million.
According to #Forbes, hip hop is now the most-consumed genre in America and its no surprise. The ten highest-paid rappers have earned well over $400 million, easily outperforming the most prolific moneymakers in country ($304.5 million) and EDM ($260 million). The top 20 in hip-hop all earn $15 million or more!
Salute to these hip-hop entrepreneurs for securing the bag…for the culture ✊?