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07.09.2012 General News

Dr. Dre Unseats Jay-Z As Hip-Hop's Top Earner

07.09.2012 LISTEN
By Daily Guide

Dr. Dre has made to the top of Forbes' annual list of hip-hop's biggest earners, thanks to his high-end headphones.

According to Forbes' Hip-Hop Cash Kings list, Dre earned $110 million before taxes last year, thanks largely to his Beats by Dr. Dre premium headphones company, the New York Post reported.

The rapper-producer collected $100 million last year when HTC paid $300 million for a 51 percent stake in the company.

Earlier this summer, Dre and his partners bought back half of that stake.

Beats' success may even explain why he still had not finished his long-awaited 'Detox' album.

'I understand why Dre didn't finish 'Detox,'' former Def Jam president Kevin Liles said with a laugh, 'It's called Beats.'

Dre's just one of several hip-hop heavyweights on the list who made most of their money outside the music industry.

Diddy came in second with $45 million from his share of profits from Ciroc vodka.

Jay-Z, last year's top earner, ranked third this year with $38 million, pulling in more than half of that from outside ventures like his ownership stake in the Nets and a deal with Duracell.

Kanye West and Lil Wayne rounded out the top five with a mix of earnings from albums, tours and endorsement deals.

Drake and Nicki Minaj took in $20.5million and $15.5million respectively off albums, tours and endorsements to snag the sixth and eighth spots.

Ludacris came in tenth with $12million from movie roles, voiceovers, his own headphone line and other ventures.

Eminem, who earned $15million, was making the majority of his money from music. Marshall Mathers sold more albums in the last decade than any other artist and continued to cash in from his back catalog and concerts.

In total, Forbes' top 20 hip-hop earners pulled in $415million last year, the highest amount since 2008. (ANI)

The top earners' list as produced by Forbes for the year 2012 was as follows;

1)  Dr. Dre            US $110 Milllion
2)  P Diddy           US $45   Million
3) Jay-Z                 US $38   Million
4) Kanye West    US $35   Million
5) Lil Wayne        US $27   Million
6) Drake               US $20.5 Million
7) Nicki Minaj      US $15.5 Million
 

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