Top 5 Wealthiest Hip-Hop Artists In 2012

There have been a lot of speculations about who are the wealthiest Hip-Hop artists in the world and more so from their fans but that’s all about to change because after carrying out in-depth research of the top contenders, we here at Scopegater came up with the following well detailed top 5 wealthiest Hip-Hop artists list.
Sean John Combs (43 years old) -$550 million.
Sean John better known as P. Diddy saw his riches growing by $75 million from $475 million in 2011 to $550 million in 2012.He continues to top the list for the second year thanks to his 2007 partnership with Ciroc Vodka to help grow and develop the brand, one of Diageo’s PLC super premium Vodka lines. The partnership gives him an annual 8 digit check as an early Christmas gift and should the company ever be sold, the father of six (one stepchild), is assured of an obese 9 figure paycheck. He is the C.E.O of Sean Combs Enterprises and a couple of other ventures he owns include; Enyce clothing label which he acquired in 2008 from Liz Claibome, Sean John which he started in 1998, Justin’s restaurant in Atlanta (named after his son) and he also has stakes in Bad Boy which he founded in 1993. He is also planning to build a business school in New York city as well as launch a cable TV channel called Revolt in 2013 and this may very well be what he needs to sing Travie Mccoy’s song “I want to be a billionaire” into reality. He is also a songwriter, producer and at times an actor.

Shawn Corey Carter (43 years old)-$460 million.
Shawn Carter popularly called Jay-Z or King of Rap as he was crowned by NBS news in 2009, saw his riches growing by $10 million from $450 million in 2011 to $460 million in 2012. He got the stage name Jay-Z from his childhood nickname “Jazzy” influenced by his musical mentor Jay-O as well as the J/Z subways in Brooklyn. There is no doubt that he is one of the most established and successful artist and entrepreneurs in USA. He has to date sold over 50 million albums globally and his fourteen grammy awards are just the tip of the iceberg. From the business point of view, he has stakes in his 40/40 Club, the New Jersey Nets (NBA), Translation which is an ad firm, founded Rocawear clothing line which he later sold in 2007 for $204 million, is one of the three founders of Roc-A-Fella Records and was once the CEO of Def Jams Recodings. It would not be fair to finish off before stating he’s married to Beyonce Knowles with whom they have a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter. He is also a music producer, songwriter and at times an actor.

Andre Romelle Young (47 years old)-$270 million.
Andre Young popularly known as Dr. Dre saw his riches growing exponentially by $145 million from $125 million in 2011 to $270 million in 2012, thanks to his partnership with HTC handset maker(A Taiwanese smartphone and tablet manufacturer) that paid $300 million for a 51% stake in Beats Electronics, a company that Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine (Interscope Chief Officer) founded in 2008. It’s said that they each owned a third of the company before HTC came into the scene and Dr. Dre’s net cut was estimated to be $85 million though he still has $100 million stakes in the company. Several successful artists like Eminem, snoop dog and the number 5 on this list have gone through his hands. He has been described as a perfectionist by artists who have worked with him and one of the best examples is 6 years ago when Snoop revealed to Dubcnn.com that Dr. Dre had made Bishop Lamont redo a recording of a single bar of vocals 107 times. Among his other achievements include his role in popularizing West Coast G-funk. He is currently the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment. In 2008 he released Beats by Dr. Dre, his brand of headphones that have since gone global. He previously had teamed up with HP to launch the HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition laptop which was sold for $2,299 and came along with Dr. Dre’s signature headphones. He is known as a super producer and his other titles include; a rapper, entrepreneur, record executive and even an actor at times.

Bryan Williams (43 years old)-$125 million.
Bryan Williams popularly referred to as Birdman saw his reaches rising by $25 million from $100 million in 2011 to $125 million in 2012. He is the cofounder of Cash Money Records alongside his brother Ronald Slim Williams. Their big break came in 1998 when they signed a $30 million contract with Universal Records which saw them retain 85% of the labels royalties, 50% of publishing revenues and 100% ownership of all masters. Cash Money Records is gradually increasing in value due to its successful rap artists like Nicki Minaj, Drake and Lil Wayne. He is also a businessman and has ventured into oil and gas exploration via his company Bronald Oil and Gas, LLC which he co founded with his brother Ronald (the first name is a combination of their names) though the company’s website disappeared into the blues raising speculations as to whether it went under.In a recent interview with Forbes, he said one of his motivations in life was to become a billionaire. He is also a record producer.
Curtis James Jackson III (37 years old)-$110 million
Curtis Jackson also known as 50 Cent saw his riches growing by $10 million from $100 million in 2011 to $110 million in 2012. One of his major income boosters was from the sale of his Vitaminwater stake in 2007 which earned the rapper a cool $100 million. His tours, record sales and G-Unit clothing line have also contributed to his wealth, a chunk of which he has spent in buying cars and a 52 room Connecticut mansion that was formerly owned by Mike Tyson. Even with such lavish spending, Curtis still has a lot more left from his acting career, video-games, G-Unit footwear, books and his recent headphone line SMS. His album “Get Rich or Die Trying which is the fourth best selling Hip-Hop album in the USA has been sextuple platinum certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He is also a record producer, actor and entrepreneur. For a guy who was shot nine times in 2000 he seems to be doing pretty well for himself.

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So there you have it; the Top Five Wealthiest Hip-Hop artists in 2012 and their accumulated wealth of $1.515 billion. There’s a lot of speculation that Diddy or Jay-Z may be the first Hip-Hop artist to become a billionaire but you never know, it may surprisingly be someone else….
Feel free to share your thoughts and let the rest of the Scopegater community hear what you have to say.

(Actual figures and photos got from Forbes)