American rapper and fashion designer, Kanye West has been named the highest-paid hip-hop act in the world, earning 150 million dollars in a year.
According to Forbes, Kanye West top the 2019 list, edging out JAY-Z who earned 81 million dollars and Drake who made 71 million dollars, to stand at second and third positions respectively on the list of top 20.
JAY-Z has always been one of the top earners in hip-hop, but for the first time ever he has lost out to Kanye West, his former protégé.
The top ten consists entirely of male hip-hop artists, as Eminem, DJ Khaled, Kendrick Lamar, Migos, and Childish Gambino round out the rest of the list.
The only female artists to make it into the top 20 are Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, who come in at the number 12 and 13 slots respectively.
Nicki Minaj made 29 million dollars earnings, and Cardi B, the youngest to make the list at 26, raked in 28 million dollars in earnings.
In 2018, Kanye West stood at number 10 on the list with 27.5 million dollars, while Jay came in at number one with 76.5 million.
It’s a huge surge for Kanye, as his partnership with Adidas is expected to pull in over 1.5 billion in sales in 2019.
Check out the top 20 list below:
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. J. 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
