Forbes' Hip-Hop Cash Kings

oh yes it's that time of year again. Forbes has indeed released their list of the 2010 richest rappers of this past year and since the last time they did their countdown, things seem to have changed. Don't take my word for it though, check out the list here, and down below.

Forbes' "Hip-Hop Cash Kings" 2010

1. Jay-Z - $63 million
2. Sean "Diddy" Combs - $30 million
3. Akon -
4. Lil Wayne - $20 million
5. Dr. Dre - $17 million
6. Ludacris - $16 million
7. Snoop Dogg - $15 million
8. Timbaland - $14 million
9. Pharrell Williams - $13 million
10. Kanye West - $12 million
11. Aubrey "Drake" Graham - $10 million
12. T.I. - $9 million
12. Swizz Beatz - $9 million
14. Eminem - $8 million
14. 50 Cent - $8 million
14. Young Jeezy - $8 million
17. Common - $7 million
18. Soulja Boy - $6 million
18. T-Pain - $6 million
20. Lil Jon - $5 million

It's honestly quite daunting to get into why each rapper is where they are in the list, but there are a few things I want to point out.


-Jay-Z....AGAIN?! I'm not a hater and I don't mind seeing people succeed, but the more this guy tops lists like this the more his ego gets filled and the more people give him pointless kudos. I'm honestly tired of seeing Jay-Z everywhere in the rap world. It's quite depressing if he's the shining star of hip-hop and the richest one to boot.
-Newcomers in the list?!? Young ones at that. I was very surprised to see Soulja Boy and Drake in the top 20 list considering there are still so many veterans out there making way less and other rappers claiming to be richer than they really are. Soulja Boy has been on the grind for a couple of years so I'm not entirely surprised on that one but I'm really surprised on Drake whose album has barely come out and his world tour wouldn't seem so lucrative on the surface. Then again there's the whole Sprite campaign to consider.
-I was really surprised to see how many of the top 10 rappers are rich because of outside business ventures, real estate investments, or companies they have started that have been kept on the hush for the most part. It is true that in this digital age people don't get rich simply off of their record sales and I think the rappers have figured that out before everyone.

That's all for now. Looking at this list gets me inspired to start rapping so I can begin to make millions too. If Soulja Boy can do it...ANYONE CAN!!

Peace for now,
M