Listen Live
Fantastic Voyage Generic Graphics Updated Nov 2023
Black America Web Featured Video
CLOSE

Thanks to the sale of his little headphone company, Dr. Dre’s annual salary has stomped on and vaporized the competition on Forbes’ new list of highest paid hip hop artists…aka The Cash Kings List.

The 49-year-old veteran producer/rapper earned an obscene $620 million in pre-tax earnings for the 12 months between June 2013 and 2014. Forbes said the estimated amount is the highest of any musician in any genre it has ever evaluated, and totals more than the other 24 salaries on the list – combined.

The majority of Dre’s coin came courtesy of the $3 billion sale to Apple of the Beats high-end headphone company he founded with music executive Jimmy Iovine. Dre also made profits from his cognac and vodka brands.

Diddy and Jay-Z tied for second place with a distant $60 million earned from drinks, clothing and television deals.

Jay-Z, who teamed with wife Beyonce this summer to earn $100 million jointly for their  “On the Run,” tour pulled in money from performances, his latest album and his Roc Nation entertainment empire.

 Drake, 27, came in fourth with $33 million generated from his album Nothing Was the Same, an endorsement deal with Nike and a concert tour with Lil Wayne.

Grammy-winning duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis rounded out the top five with $32 million.

Also of note, “Happy” singer and music producer Pharrell Williams, who joined the NBC television singing competition The Voice as a coach this season, enters the top 10 this year with $22 million.

Forbes compiled the list by looking at income from record sales, publishing, merchandise sales, tours and endorsement deals and talking to managers, agents, lawyers and some of the artists. The earnings were calculated based on data from Pollstar, RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and Nielsen SoundScan.

View Forbes’ entire 2014 Cash Kings list below:

1. Dr. Dre – $620 million

2. Jay Z – $60 million

2/3. Diddy – $60 million

4. Drake – $33 million

5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – $32 million

6. Kanye West – $30 million

7. Birdman – $24 million

8. Lil Wayne – $23 million

9. Pharrell Williams – $22 million

10. Eminem – $18 million

11. Nicki Minaj – $14 million

12. Wiz Khalifa – $13 million

13. Pitbull – $12 million

14. Snoop Dogg – $10 million

15. Kendrick Lamar – $9 million

16. Ludacris – $8 million

16. Tech N9ne – $8 million

16. Swizz Beatz – $8 million

16. 50 Cent – $8 million

20. Rick Ross – $7 million

20. J. Cole – $7 million

20. DJ Khaled – $7 million

20. Lil Jon – $7 million

20. Mac Miller – $7

Like BlackAmericaWeb.com on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.