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Jay-Z, Diddy, and Kanye West Named as Highest-Paid Rappers of 2021

Jay-Z, Diddy, and Kanye West Named as Highest-Paid Rappers of 2021

Published Tue, March 1, 2022 at 6:20 PM EST

Hip-hop’s highest earners of 2021 have been announced, with their wealthiest list yet, as Jay-Z, Diddy, and Kanye West earned some of the highest salaries of their entire careers.

At the top of the list was hip-hop executive giant JAY-Z, who pulled in a whopping $470 million last year alone, the biggest annual sum of his career.

The Brooklyn mogul added to his $1.5 billion net worth by selling his streaming company TIDAL to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s Square for $297 million, a deal that saw Jay join Square’s board of directors.

Hov also sold his 50 percent stake in his champagne brand, Armand de Brignac, to luxury goods giant LVMH for a reported $600 million. According to Forbes, the deal earned JAY-Z a cash payment of at least $300 million.

Taking the No. 2 spot on the list is fellow Watch The Throne emcee Kanye West, who earned $250 million in 2021 almost entirely thanks to his Yeezy footwear empire.

Kanye’s 2022 is already off to a uber lucrative star,t as he’s pulled in over $2 million in less than a week from sales of his $200 Stem Player, through which he is exclusively rolling out his new album Donda 2.

At No. 3 was Diddy, who earned $75 million in 2021. The Bad Boy Records founder continued to rake in a reported eight-figure salary from his deal with Diageo’s Cîroc, on top of lucrative partnerships with brands such as Pandora and Dolce & Gabbana.

JAY-Z, Kanye West, and Diddy’s combined earnings amount to almost $800 million, while the entire top 10 pulled in over $1 billion, nearly double their pre-pandemic takings.

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