Jay-Z Loses World’s Highest Paid Hip-Hop Artist To Former Mentee, Kanye West

Jay-Z has lost his crown as the highest paid hip-hop artist to co-rapper, Kanye West! According to the 2019 edition of Forbes’ highest-paid acts in hip-hop, Kanye’s new place as the hip-hop king can be attributed to West’s collaboration with Adidas, Yeezy, which is expected to top $1.5 billion in sales this year.

Last year, Kanye West sat at number 10 on the list with $27.5 million which is less than five times his total earnings this year while Zay-Z sat at $81 million. Surprisingly, Drake despite being the most-streamed artist of any genre bagged the three spot behind Jay-Z, bringing in an impressive $75 million.

The top ten consists entirely of male hip-hop artists, with Diddy coming in at number four with $70 million, Travis Scott coming fifth with $58 million, and Eminem taking sixth place with $50 million, DJ Khaled ($40 million), Kendrick Lamar ($38.5 million), Migos ($36 million), and Childish Gambino ($35 million) round out the rest of the list.

Other two female artists to also make it to the list are newcomer, Cardi B who came in at number 13 with earnings of $28 million, and Nicki Minaj came twelfth with $29 million.

In total, the top 20 acts made a combined $860 million, up 33 per cent from $648 million last year.