Dr. Dre Tops Forbes' Hip-Hop Cash King List of 2014 With $620M

Music

After selling Beats to Apple earlier this year, the rapper earned $620 million, the highest annual total of any act ever evaluated by Forbes.

September 24, 2014

AceShowbiz -

Dr. Dre is officially the king of hip-hop. The veteran rapper has topped Forbes' list of the highest paid hip-hop artists in 2014 with $620 million in estimated pre-tax earnings, the highest annual total of any entertainer ever evaluated by Forbes.

It's also more than the combined earnings of other 24 names on the list released on Tuesday, September 23. Dre's impressive earnings should come as no surprise although he didn't release an album or go on a huge tour in the 12 months from June 2013 to 2014. Apple recently acquired Beats Electronics that he founded with Jimmy Iovine for $3 billion.

Miles behind Dre are Jay-Z and P. Diddy who are both at No. 2 with $60 million each. Hova's earnings, which are his highest since 2010, were from his Roc Nation empire, touring, D'Usse cognac and his album "Magna Carta... Holy Grail". As for Diddy, he earned his money through his Ciroc vodka, Blue Flame marketing and REVOLT TV.

Drake is at No. 3 with $33 million with takings from his album "Nothing Was the Same", an endorsement deal with Nike and a concert tour. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis trails behind the Canadian rapper with around $32 million.

Editors' Pick

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.

Other names who appear on the list's top 10 include Kanye West ($30 million), Lil Wayne ($23 million) and Eminem ($18 million).