Puff Daddy is #1 on “Cash Kings 2015: The World’s Highest Paid Hip-Hop Acts” with earnings of an estimated $60 million.
"Diddy rakes in cash from the fruits of a reputation forged in music: TV network Revolt, clothing line Sean John, alkaline water brand Aquahydrate and Ciroc vodka, which brings in the bulk of his bucks,” the Forbes story says. "He’s also readying a new album.”
Jay Z checks in at #2 on the list with earnings of a reported $56 million thanks to concerts with Beyonce and his work with Roc Nation and Armand de Briganc.
Drake’s estimated $39.5 milion lands him the #3 spot on Forbes’ list. The Canadian’s earnings were boosted by 50 concert dates, the platinum sales of his If Your Reading This Its Too Late album and Sprite and Nike endorsements.
Forbes details how it came up with its “Cash Kings 2015: The World’s Highest Paid Hip-Hop Acts” list.
“We consider pretax income from touring, record sales, streaming, publishing, merchandise sales, endorsements and other business ventures,” Forbes says. "Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted. Earnings are calculated from June 2014 to June 2015 and based on data from Nielsen SoundScan, Pollstar, the RIAA and from interviews with managers, lawyers, executives and a handful of the artists themselves."
Last year, Dr. Dre earned the #1 spot on Forbes' list with pretax earnings of $620 million. The Compton, California rapper-producer earned an estimated $33 million during Forbes' calculation period this year, good for the #4 spot on the list.
Pharrell checks in at #5 with $32 million.
To see the full “Cash Kings 2015: The World’s Highest Paid Hip-Hop Acts” list, visit Forbes
