Hip Hop Cash Kings of 2021 And How Much They Made, According to Former Editor Of Forbes

Every year, Forbes puts out their list of highest-paid entertainers, which often contains some of hip-hop's household names. In a new piece of report from a former editor for the publication, Jay-Z and Kanye West are claiming the top spots  on the list.

On Monday February 28 2022, journalist Zack O’Malley Greenburg, formerly of the publication Forbes, who compiled the list for the publication for so many years, independently revealed his list of the top-earning rappers with Jay Z making $470 million, Kanye West raking in $250 million and Diddy bringing in $75 million—the aforementioned rappers are the big three on top of the list.

"I started compiling the "Forbes list" of hip-hop's top earners over a decade ago. Annual income for this year's top two—Jay-Z ($470m) and Kanye ($250m)—is up more than tenfold from ten years ago. This year is the first time I'm doing the rankings independently."

— Zack O’Malley Greenburg 

Hov's massive numbers can partly be attributed to the sale of his Tidal streaming service to Twitter's co-founder Jack Dorsey's Square for over $350 million and selling 50 percent stake of Armand de Brignac champagne, also referred to as Ace of Spades, to LVMH—Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. As for Kanye, his hundreds of millions are largely due to his Yeezy sneaker/clothing brand. Diddy's millions also come from his Ciroc vodka brand while DJ Khaled, who placed at No. 7, brought in $35 million thanks to his deals with Pandora, Dolce & Gabbana and many more.

Other rhymers on the list include Drake (No. 4, $50 million) and Wiz Khalifa (No. 5, $45 million), while Tech N9ne, Doja Cat and Birdman all tied at the 10th spot with $25 million each.

Although Greenburg listed the top 10 highest-paid rhymer, the quantity of his rapper pool is unclear.