Hip-Hop's Highest-Paid Artists Of 2021

Jay-Z and Kanye West towered over the field with dueling nine-figure paydays, but hip-hop’s top acts all found ways to flourish amid a second pandemic year.

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When Jay-Z and Kanye West launched their classic album Watch the Throne back in 2011, they racked up earnings that look almost quaint in hindsight. Jay-Z banked $37 million, topping the Forbes “Hip-Hop Cash Kings” list (compiled by yours truly), while Kanye tallied $16 million. Fast forward a decade, and both artists’ earnings have increased more than tenfold.

Hov is this year’s king of hip-hop cash, accumulating a career-best total of $470 million after selling centimillion-dollar chunks of his Tidal streaming service and Armand de Brignac champagne; Jay-Z’s net worth has since ballooned to $1.5 billion. Fellow billionaire Ye ranks second, pulling in $250 million over the course of 2021, almost entirely from his Yeezy footwear empire.

“Things got bigger and better—God is great,” says DJ Khaled, who ranks No. 7 with $35 million. “We the biggest, you know that.”

Hip-hop was forged in a crucible of adversity, part of the reason it’s flourished amid the recent uncertain times. The genre has stared down the barrel of systemic racism from the beginning, and acts historically haven’t been able to rely on live shows or fat corporate checks like their peers in other corners of the music business. Now, they’re among the best equipped to find paths to profit even throughout the disruptions of Covid-19.

Though Hip-Hop now accounts for 27.7% of U.S. music consumption—more than any other genre, according to MRC Data, and roughly equal to rock and country combined—its highest-paid acts are successful because of their diversified portfolios.

“Hip-Hop has, and always will, set trends,” says Kim Kaupe, founder of the creative agency Bright Ideas Only. “Brands realize they can no longer sit on the sidelines and test what ‘might’ work. They need to be in the mix testing partnerships and trends before they have the data to back it up.”

Watch the Throne: Kanye West and Jay-Z are hip-hop’s top earners of 2021 (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Roc Nation)

That means teaming up with many of the names on this list, and not just Jay-Z and Kanye. Diddy netted more massive payments from Diageo for his Ciroc vodka line while Khaled padded his coffers with partnerships involving companies from Pandora to Dolce & Gabbana.

Others scored big independently. Fire-spitting emcee Tech N9ne made the cut thanks to a previously unreported digital-only catalog deal that added eight figures to his DIY fortune. Wiz Khalifa cashed in on the cannabis revolution with products including his Khalifa Kush (and got a big boost from quietly selling a chunk of his publishing in April).

Some sat back and collected checks from surging catalogs, like Super Bowl halftime star Eminem and Cash Money co-founder Birdman. Even the embattled Travis Scott made the list despite the deadly crowd surge at his Astroworld festival—he’d already stacked up plenty of cash from his Cactus Jack empire and brand partnerships before the tragedy struck.

Indeed, there are places hip-hop could still improve, perhaps most notably when it comes to its persistent gender pay gap. Doja Cat is the only female act on the list, blasting into the top ten on the strength of a thriving international presence and partnerships with brands from Pepsi to CandyCrush.

“Doja is unapologetically self-expressed and the world loves her for it,” says Adriana Arce, Vice President at artist management firm Rebel. “Hip-Hop has always defined culture. Culture shapes the world’s consumer habits. Brands need culture to survive.”

And even as the fortunes of hip-hop’s next generation rise amid such deals and the continued streaming boom, it’s as important as ever to watch that throne. Given how far Jay-Z and Kanye have come in the past decade, imagine the financial heights they’ll reach ten years from now.

This list also appeared today in Vibe. Read on right here for analysis of the top ten, available only to Zogblog subscribers. For more on Jay-Z, check out the “Billionaire Edition” of my biography Empire State of Mind.

Methodology: The list of hip-hop’s highest-paid acts measures pretax income for calendar year 2021 before deducting fees for agents, managers, lawyers and living expenses. Estimates are generated with the help of numbers from MRC Data, Pollstar and other databases, as well as by interviewing handlers and some of the artists themselves.

10. Tech N9ne ($25 million, tie): The Kansas City veteran has quietly amassed an independent empire, though the volume is increasing after a viral guest verse from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson last fall. His earnings got a boost from a previously-unreported digital-only catalog deal that added eight figures to his fortune.

10. Doja Cat ($25 million, tie): The only female act on the list, Doja Cat had a career-best on the strength of a thriving international presence and partnerships with brands from Pepsi to CandyCrush. Planet Her, released in June, moved 1.5 million album-equivalent units in the U.S., sixth-most of any artists in any genre, and racked up an astounding 1.85 billion on-demand audio spins.

10. Birdman ($25 million, tie): Cash Money’s cofounder continues to sit back and collect checks from the vast catalog—featuring hit by acts including Drake, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj—that he controls with his brother Ronald “Slim” Williams. With streaming still on the rise, Cash Money seems well-positioned for continued profits.

9. J. Cole ($27 million): The North Carolina native’s new album, The Off-Season, became his sixth chart-topper and featured production from the likes of Boi-1da and Timbaland. One of the few acts on this list to tour in 2021, he grossed $16 million across 11 show dates. Cole, a Tidal shareholder, also benefited from Jay-Z’s sale of the streaming service to Square.

8. Eminem ($28 million): Though he hasn’t put out an album in more than two years, Eminem was still among the five most-consumed artists in hip-hop last year thanks to a vast catalog of hits. This year, he’ll surely get even more of a boost, thanks to his halftime show with Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige.