Rapper Kanye West is wealthier than mentor JAY-Z, comes first on Forbes' list of high-earning hip-hop stars with $150 million
It finally happened. Kanye West overtook his mentor JAY-Z on Forbes' annual list of the World’s 20 Top-Earning Hip-Hop Stars. 41-year-old Kanye secured the top spot, having earned $150 million (before taxes) over the past year. JAY-Z trailed with $81 million at number 2. Drake, 32, was at the third place with an income of $75 million, earned mainly via streaming platforms.
West's feat of sneaking past Jay-Z is largely due to the success of his Adidas Yeezy sneaker line that had a whopping $1.5 billion in sales, according to the magazine. Jay-Z's income was largely dependent on his On The Run II tour with wife and singer Beyoncé. They jointly raked in $253.5 million as tour earnings. JAY-Z will also be adding to his non-music income next year after his entertainment and sports company, Roc Nation, made a deal with the NFL this August to hire Jay-Z as their "live music entertainment strategist." The rapper will be consulted for all live NFL events, including the Super Bowl half-time show.
Kanye's plans are more religion-oriented as he plans to drop his new album 'Jesus Is King'.' His wife, Kim Kardashian West, announced the album's release on September 27 with a photo on Twitter that also teased the names of the tracks on the album like 'Garden', 'God Is', 'Baptized', 'Sweet Jesus' and 'Sunday.' This year, Kanye's greatest hits have been 'Jesus Walks' and 'Lift Yourself.'
The two rappers have had a tumultuous relationship. Their feud started when JAY-Z didn't attend Kanye’s wedding to Kim Kardashian in 2014. Kanye West, however, seemed to have extended an olive branch to 'big brother' Jay-Z with the song ‘Brothers’ released as part of the season 2 premiere of the show 'Tales' on BET in August. The lyrics on the song speak being "brothers forever."
Another money mover on the list is none other than Cardi B with $28 million, who entered the list for the first time at No. 13. But she might be losing some of that dough getting fancy legal representation after being outed as a Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods member by Tekashi69. She is currently behind Nicki Minaj with $29 million.