Who Is the Richest Rapper in the World?
Successful rappers bring home good paychecks. The richest rapper could be defined as the person taking home the most cash or the person with the most high-value property. Either way, let's look at some of the rappers who are currently the high earners.
It’s impossible to be totally accurate when determining who is the richest rapper in the world, but it’s possible to make some estimates, and that’s just what Forbes Magazine does, with its “annual rich rapper” list each year.
- In 2010, the list is topped by Shawn "Jay-Z" arter, which isn’t a surprise considering he’s topped the list for the past two years.
- Jay-Z earned over $60 million dollars this year, and unlike some in the music industry who crash and burn too quickly, Jay-Z is proving himself savvy enough to handle the cash.
- Nightclub investments, record labels, Broadway projects, and his own sports team all have Jay-Z on top.
Other Rich Rappers
Other major earners in the rap industry are, like Jay-Z, involved with more than just their own careers. Rounding out their income with investments in various projects, particularly venues, labels, and major tours, seems to be the way for rappers to become moguls.
Here are the earnings for top rappers during 2010 according to Forbes:
- Sean "Diddy" Combs earned $30 million
- Aliuane "Akon" Thiam earned $21 million
- Dwayne "Lil Wayne" Carter earned $20 million
- Andre "Dr. Dre" Young earned $17 million
- Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges earned $16 million
- Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Brodus earned $15 million
Like all musicians, the most popular rappers have sizeable earnings. Earnings can change quickly as experienced by Kanye West whose earnings fell from $25 million in 2009 to $12 million in 2010 after his onstage comments during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 Video Music Awards.