1 Forbes Names 2011 Hip-Hop Cash Kings. Jay-Z Remains On Top With $37 Million Earned

Ahhh it's that time of the year again and Forbes has released it's Hip-Hop Cash Kings for 2011 and Jay-Z leads the list with an estimated 37 million earned this past year. I'm surprised Rick Ross and 50 Cent made the same amount of this year. Don't forget to check out our review of the book "Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office" which is authored by the creator of the hip-hop Cash kings list. Peep the list below.

Forbes 2011 Hip-Hop Cash Kings

1. Jay-Z, $37 Million
2. Diddy, $35 million
3.Kanye West, $16 million
4. Lil Wayne & Birdman, $15 million (Tie)
5.Eminem, Dr. Dre, & Snoop Dogg $14 million (Tie)
6. Akon, $13 million
7. Ludacris, $12 million
8. Wiz Khalifa & Drake $11 million (Tie)
9. Pharrell Williams, $10 million
10.Timbaland, $7 million
11.Swizz Beatz & Nicki Minaj $6.5 million (tie)
12.Rick Ross, 50 Cent & Pitbull $6 million (tie)
13.T-Pain & B.o.B, $5 million (Tie)

0 Forbes Names Wealthiest Hip-Hop Artists + A Look At Jay-Z's Early Hustling Days

Not to be confused with Forbes Hip-Hop Cash Kings List which focuses on annual income, this particular list focuses on an artist's net-worth by calculating current holdings, looking at past earnings, perusing financial documents and talking to a bevy of analysts, attorneys, managers and other industry players to find the nitty-gritty details.

1. Diddy ($475 million)
2. Jay-Z ($450 million)

3. Dr. Dre ($125 million)

4. 50 Cent ($100 million)

5. Birdman ($100 million)

Interestingly enough, the author of the article (Zack O'Malley Greenburg) is releasing a book next week entitled "Empire State of Mind" which will focus on the business acumen of Jay-Z. Below is a snippet of an interview the author did with Rap Genius that offers a bit on insight on what to expect.

RG: You are the dude who came up with the meme $450 million figure for Jay’s net worth: what are the sources?

ZOMG: Lots of ‘em. First of all, there’s his bank account(s), which I can only guess at — but I’ve got a good idea based on his earnings over the past 10 years, we track that here at Forbes. Then there are his stakes in a bunch of different businesses: an advertising company called Translation Marketing, co-owned with Steve Stoute (who was once bashed over the head with a champagne bottle by Puffy); the Nets stake, which isn’t worth shit, at least until they move to Brooklyn; a piece of a company called Carol’s Daughter, which makes hair products for little girls (not kidding); and a bunch of other secret stuff that you’ll have to read my Jay-Z book to find out about!

RG: When I was in college, I made $3K selling weed (also smoked another $3K) Simple — but fundamental — question: how much has Jay-Z made selling drugs by your accounts?

ZOMG: Well, he says he came into the rap game “100 grand strong, nine to be exact” in “U Don’t Know”. So it seems like he’s saying $900,000, and I take him at his word on that. I’ve realized that his lyrics are actually pretty honest if you listen carefully. In the mid 1990s, cocaine was selling for about $40k per kilo (which makes sense: “I could make 40 off a brick, but one rhyme could beat that”), and my sources told me Jay was moving a kilo a week. Really it depends on his acquisition costs. If he’s “paying LeBron” ($23k), that’s a fat $17k profit per month, or about $200k per year. So from 1990-1995, his peak dealing years, that translates to about $900,000, like he says. Of course, if he was actually paying Dwayne Wade ($3k), that’s a different story…

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