Dr. Dre Named Hip-Hop’s “Cash King”

Carl Williott | September 5, 2012 11:55 am

Dr. Dre was recently named the fifth-highest-paid celebrity, and despite all but vanishing from the business of music-making, he tops Forbes‘ Cash Kings list ranking hip-hop’s top earners. Dre pulled in a whopping $110 million in the past year, primarily from sales of Beats by Dre headphones. Would you be motivated to get back in the studio and work on your (second) comeback album with that kind of money rolling in? Didn’t think so.

Dre left big-time moguls like Diddy and Jay-Z in the dust. Diddy is number two with $45 million (thanks to Ciroc), followed by Jay-Z’s $38 million. We have to hand it to Jay: of the top three, he’s done the best job balancing business ventures with an active music career. After that, the list gets to the music-first rappers, with Kanye West ($35 million) and Lil Wayne ($27 million) rounding out the top five. Read on to see the full list, and then ask yourself why you didn’t pursue a career in hip-hop.

1. Dr. Dre ($110 million)
2. Diddy ($45 million)
3. Jay-Z Carter ($38 million)
4. Kanye West ($35 million)
5. Lil Wayne ($27 million)
6. Drake ($20.5 million)
7. Birdman ($20 million)
8. Nicki Minaj ($15.5 million)
9. Eminem ($15 million)
10. Ludacris ($12 million)
11. Pitbull ($9.5 million)
12. Rick Ross ($9 million, tie)
12. Wiz Khalifa ($9 million, tie)
14. Snoop Dogg/Lion ($8.5 million)
15. 50 Cent  ($7.5 million)
16. Swizz Beatz ($7 million, tie)
16. Pharrell Williams ($7 million, tie)
16. Young Jeezy ($7 million, tie)
19. Mac Miller ($6.5 million)
20. Akon ($6 million, tie)
20. Timbaland  ($6 million, tie)
20. Tech N9ne ($6 million, tie)

[via Forbes]

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