Toronto rapper Drake, real name Aubrey Graham, performs at the BET Awards on June 27. Forbes.com reports he earned $10 million US in the past year. (Matt Sayles/Associated Press) Jay-Z is the world's richest rapper, earning $63 million US last year, according to a ranking released by Forbes.com.
The website said the singer, a hitmaker for songs such as Empire State of Mind and Run This Town, earned much of his money from his 40/40 nightclub chain.
Toronto star Drake just missed out on a spot in the top 10 in the 20 top earners list. Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Graham, was No. 11 with an income of $10 million US.
Drake was a highly hyped newcomer to hip hop, able to strike a good record deal, and his debut recording Thank Me Later has gone platinum since June. His real earning power was boosted by advertising agreements with Sprite and Virgin America, Forbes.com reported.
The second and third biggest earners were Sean (Diddy) Combs with $30 million and Akon, who made $21 million despite serving a prison sentence on weapons charges.
Eminem, who has sold more records since 2000 than any other rap artist, earned a relatively low $8 million and came in way down the list at No. 14, in part because he doesn't do much other than make music.
The richest rappers are those who diversify — into acting, sponsorships and lines of clothing or other products, Forbes.com said.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Neil Macdonald: Washington's obsession with leakers
- Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are just the most prominent targets in an all-out legal and propaganda campaign that America's security apparatus is mounting against leakers everywhere, Neil Macdonald writes. more »
- Half of First Nations children live in poverty
- Half of status First Nations children in Canada live in poverty, a troubling figure that jumps to nearly two-thirds in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, says a newly released report. more »
- Who's who in the Senate expense controversy
- Keeping track of the names popping up in the ongoing Senate expenses controversy — from the investigators to the four senators themselves — could be a difficult task for even the most seasoned political observers. more »
- How open is Ottawa's new 'open data' website?
- Treasury Board President Tony Clement is touting the federal government's revamped data portal as a "new natural resource." But that online window for previously published data arrives at the same time the government faces controversy over just how open it really is. more »
Must Watch
Latest World News Headlines
- Obama says lives saved by surveillance programs
- Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats. more »
- Neil Macdonald: Washington's obsession with leakers
- Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are just the most prominent targets in an all-out legal and propaganda campaign that America's security apparatus is mounting against leakers everywhere, Neil Macdonald writes. more »
- Canada to send peacekeeping troops to Haiti
- A handful of Canadian troops are about to take part in peacekeeping operation in Haiti, under the command of Brazilian forces, in a long-delayed mission that has been kept inexplicably low on the political radar. more »
- Mass protests continue in Brazil
- Tens of thousands of Brazilians again flood the streets of the country's biggest city to raise a collective cry against a longstanding lament — people are weighed down by high taxes and high prices but get low-quality public services and a system of government infected with corruption. more »
- Turkish official approves 'standing man' protest
- Turkey's deputy prime minister gives a nod of approval to a new form of peaceful resistance that is spreading through the country as police question dozens of people rounded up in police raids. more »
The National
The Current
- Why Canadians get sick from tap water Jun. 19, 2013 9:53 AM Author Chris Wood believes one of the greatest threats to the health of Canadians dribbles into their homes every day from the kitchen faucet.
- 2 men jailed in Dominican wedding fight return to Canada
- All-party deal on bills, MP oversight lets House out early
- Half of First Nations children live in poverty
- Tim Hortons being circled by Wall Street hedge funds
- Are e-cigarettes safe to puff?
- Most groups don't want return of Trudeau speaking fees
- Huge ancient city at Angkor Wat revealed by lasers
- Police probe death of woman, 27, in Kelowna home
- Hundreds attend 'Change Brazil' protest in Vancouver
