Kanye West Tops Forbes' Highest-Paid Hip-Hop Acts List

Travis Scott came in No. 5 at $58 million

Source: Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage / Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage

Jay-Z already holds many of the firsts in hip-hop in regards to superior wealth. First to a billion, Cash King numerous times over. But for the first time, Hov isn’t the top earner in hip-hop. In the 2019 edition of Forbes highest-paid acts in hip-hop, it’s not Hov at No. 1 but rather Kanye West.

Due in large part to his deal with adidas and the success of Yeezy footwear, Ye took home $150 million pretax income. Hov sits behind him at $81 million.

The rise of Kanye on the Forbes list has been impressive to see over the years. He was No. 10 in 2018 with $27.5 million whereas Hov was No. 1 with $76.5 million. Ye’s involvement with adidas is a huge surge and financial windfall for him as his partnership with the apparel brand is expected to bring in more than $1.5 billion in sales in 2019.

Outside of the former Watch The Throne brothers, Drake rests at No. 3 with $75 million followed by Diddy at No. 4 with $70 million. Houston’s own Travis Scott crashes the Top 5 with $58 million thanks to a number of deals with Jordan Brand, the success of his Astroworld: Wish You Were Here tour and Astroworld festival. The top 10 is rounded out by the likes of Eminem, DJ Khaled, Kendrick Lamar, Migos and Childish Gambino.

You’d have to wait until Nos. 12 and 13 before you see a woman appear on the list and that includes Nicki Minaj and Cardi B as they’re close with $29 million and $28 million respectively. Cardi makes her own history as the youngest person on the list at 26.

See the list below.

20. Pitbull ($18 million)

19. Wiz Khalifa ($18.5 million)

18. Nas ($19 million)

17. Future ($19.5 million)

16. Birdman ($20 million)

15. Meek Mill ($21 million)

14. Swizz Beatz ($23 million)

13. Cardi B ($28 million)

12. Nicki Minaj ($29 million)

11. J. Cole ($31 million)

10. Childish Gambino ($35 million)