‘The Forbes Five’ has introduced a new member to its wealthiest hip-hop artists this year.
In years prior, Forbes reports the top 5 has always been the same: Diddy, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, Birdman, and 50 Cent.
But, after blowing though $100 million and filing for bankruptcy, 50 Cent has been replaced by youngster Drake to make Forbes’ top five:
1. Diddy, $750 million
2. Dr. Dre, $710 million
3. Jay Z, $610 million
4. Birdman, $100 million
5. Drake, $60 million
At 29-years-old, Aubrey ‘Drake’ Graham is stocking piling cash from tours, releasing music and has been seen making merchandising deals with some of the industries biggest names, like Apple, Sprite and Nike.
His Facebook page says he’s been writing songs since 10 years old, appearing in the hip-hop scene in 2006 with “Room for Improvement.” It’s estimated he’s worth $60 million.
Birdman, who just dropped his latest album “Views,” is fourth place artist and label-mate to Drake.
The success of Cash Money has designated Birdman with $110 million, a slight fall from his 2015 net due to a reported uneasiness within the label. Rumors continue to circulate that he may be losing some of his top recording artists, which include Nikki Minaj, L'il Wayne, and Drake.
According to Birdman’s personal Facebook page, he has “amassed multiple gold albums” and 3 platinum albums.
Ranking third, Jay Z.
HOV’s net worth is estimated to be at $610 million, pulling in this past year’s largest gains from his streaming service ‘Tidal.’ The company boasts 3 million paying subscribers and Forbes reports it’s worth triple its $56 million purchase price.
Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter has taken home 19 Grammy awards, is the president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings and is married to Beyoncé Knowles, according to his Facebook page.
Ranking second place is artist Dr. Dre.
His net worth of $710 million has been aided by the sell-off to Apple of his ‘Beats by Dre’ back in 2014, which earned him the largest payday of any living musician ever—and last year’s “Straight Outta Compton” earned him a pretty nice chunk of cash too.
Dre began his own record label, Aftermath Entertainment, in 1996 and signed famed rappers such as Eminem and 50 Cent, according to his personal biography.
Coming in first, and closest to being hip-hop’s first billionaire—Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
Slightly up from last year, Forbes reports that Diddy is now boasting a $750 million net worth.
The singer/song-writer, who has recently decided to step out of the music industry to focus on his acting career, has tied his fortune to many industries, with the biggest cash flow coming in from the following: Ciroc vodka; Sean John clothing line; his record label Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group, which he founded and is currently the CEO of; TV network REVOLT; DeLeon tequila, and AQUAhydrate alkaline water, according to Forbes.
The recording artist told Forbes in 2013: “I‘d be blessed to be a billionaire, hopefully someday it’ll come true and I'll be able to do some good with it.”
