Dr Dre overtakes Diddy to top Forbes hip-hop rich list

Veteran American rapper and record producer,Dr Dre beats Puff Daddy to top of highest paid hip hop artists list with $620m earned in a single year

With $620 million in estimated pre-tax earnings, veteran rapper and record producer Dr. Dre topped Forbes list as the highest paid hip hop artist, ousting Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs from the top spot.


Forbes said Dre’s estimated annual earnings for the 12 months between June 2013 and 2014 are the highest of any musician in any genre it has ever evaluated, and more than the combined takings of the other 24 names on the hip-hop list released on Tuesday.

Much of the 49-year-old’s earnings this year came thanks to the $3 billion sale to Apple of the Beats high- end headphone company he founded with music executive Jimmy Iovine and other financial ventures, including cognac and vodka brands.

Forbes compiled the list by looking at income from record sales, publishing, merchandise sales, tours and endorsement deals and talking to managers, agents, lawyers and some of the artists. The earnings were calculated based on data from Pollstar, RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and Nielsen SoundScan.
Fees for agents, managers and lawyers were not deducted from the estimates.

See Top 20 list below:

1. Dre Dre – $620 million
2. Puff Daddy – $60 million
2. Jay Z – $60 million
4. Drake – $33 million
5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – $32 million
6. Kanye West: $30 million
7. Birdman: $24 million
8. Lil Wayne: $23 million
9. Pharrell Williams: $22 million
10. Eminem: $18 million
11. Nicki Minaj: $14 million

12. Wiz Khalifa: $13 million

13. Pitbull: $12 million

14. Snoop Dogg: $10 million

15. Kendrick Lamar: $9 million
16. Ludacris: $8 million (tie)
16. Tech N9ne: $8 million (tie)
16. Swizz Beatz: $8 million (tie)
16. 50 Cent: $8 million (tie)
20. Rick Ross: $7 million (tie)
20. J. Cole: $7 million (tie)
20. DJ Khaled: $7 million (tie)
20. Lil Jon: $7 million (tie)
20. Mac Miller: $7 million (tie)