Kanye West tops Forbes’ 2019 list of highest-paid hip hop artists

Forbes has released its 2019 list of highest-paid hip hop stars with Kanye West occupying the top spot for the first time.

Forbes unveiled the top 20 list yesterday Thursday, 19th September. The list accounts for the total revenue of the respective artists, pre-tax, from the period June 2018 through June 2019.

Thanks in part to his Yeezy brand, which is expected to hit $1.5 billion in sales this year, Kanye West reportedly earned $150 million for the period under review, which gets him the top position.

Jay-Z reportedly earned $81 million, which calculates to 54% of Kanye West’s income but is enough to get him the number 2 spot on the 2019 highest-paid hip hop artists.

The number 3 spot goes to Canadian rapper Drake who made a cool $75 million, while Diddy makes number 4 with a revenue of $70 million and new entrant on the list Travis Scott makes number 5 with reported revenue of $58 million.

Nicki Minaj and Cardi B are the only female artists who made the cut coming in at numbers 12 and 13 respectively. Nicki reportedly made $29 million while Cardi B made $28 million.

According to Forbes, the threshold to enter the 20 highest-paid hip-hop artists was $18 million.

The publication also notes that the “top 20 acts in hip-hop banked a combined $860 million, up 33% from $648 million last year.”

Here is the full list:

1. Kanye West ($150 million)
2. Jay-Z ($81 million)
3. Drake ($75 million)
4. Diddy ($70 million)
5. Travis Scott ($58 million)
6. Eminem ($50 million)
7. DJ Khaled ($40 million)
8. Kendrick Lamar ($38.5 million)
9. Migos ($36 million)
10. Childish Gambino ($35 million)
11. Cole ($31 million)
12. Nicki Minaj ($29 million)
13. Cardi B ($28 million)
14. Swizz Beatz ($23 million)
15. Meek Mill ($21 million)
16. Birdman ($20 million)
17. Future ($19.5 million)
18. Nas ($19 million)
19. Wiz Khalifa ($18.5 million)
20. Pitbull ($18 million)