Kanye West Takes JAY-Z's Crown as Hip Hop's Highest Paid Rapper
Kanye West has dethroned JAY-Z as hip hop’s highest-paid rapper.
On Thursday, Forbes published their annual list of the World’s 20 Top-Earning Hip-Hop Stars, revealing Kanye, 41, as No. 1.
The “Jesus Walks” rapper earned $150 million before taxes this past year, while JAY-Z, 49, raked in $81 million.
The magazine reported that Kanye’s success is largely due to his Adidas Yeezy sneaker line.
Yeezy is expected to top $1.5 billion in sales this year, Forbes stated, “boosting West’s pretax income to $150 million over the past year and making him hip-hop’s cash king for the first time ever.”
Forbes explained JAY-Z’s pre-tax income was earned from his On The Run II tour with wife and singer Beyoncé.
Placing at No. 3 on the list is Drake, 32, with $75 million — all from streaming, according to Forbes. His latest album Scorpion was also the most popular album of 2018, according to Billboard.
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Cardi B, 26, also made the list for the first time at No. 13, earning $28 million, coming right behind Nicki Minaj, who earned $29 million.
Travis Scott came in at No. 5 with $58 million all thanks to his Wish You Were Here Tour in support of his Grammy-nominated album Astroworld.
While Kanye has been crowned king, JAY-Z is in no way slowing down when it comes to his career.
In August, it was announced that the rapper has signed a deal with the NFL so that he will advise as a “live music entertainment strategist; through the deal, the rapper’s entertainment and sports company, Roc Nation, will consult the NFL on live events, including the Super Bowl halftime show.
Kanye, on the other hand, is gearing up for the release of his new album Jesus Is King.
Last month, Kanye’s wife Kim Kardashian West posted a seemingly cryptic photo on Twitter with the title of her husband’s album.
The photo, which features a copy of the Bible opened to Psalm 57:6, a flashlight, a jar of lemons and multiple rough drafts, focuses on a sheet of notebook paper teasing a potential track list of West’s upcoming project.
The list ends with a note of Sept. 27 — the album’s slated release date.
The speculated tracklist includes twelve spiritual-themed titles such a “Garden,” “God Is”, “Baptized,” “Sweet Jesus” and “Sunday.”
Another title included on the list is called “Water,” which Kanye previewed to fans during select Sunday Services — a spiritual musical performance experience that includes some of his greatest hits such as “Jesus Walks” and “Lift Yourself” — this year.
Last year, the rapper released Ye, his first full-length project since 2016’s Life of Pablo and collaborative album Kids See Ghosts with friend Kid Cudi.
The artist was supposed to drop another album, Yandhi, in September 2018, but it was postponed until November and eventually delayed indefinitely.
Aside from their undeniable success, Kanye and JAY-Z have made headlines in recent years for their tumultuous friendship.
After years of feuding, which started after JAY-Z skipped out on Kanye’s wedding to Kim, 38, the “Empire State of Mind” rapper revealed in a recent interview with T, The New York Times Style Magazine that the two are back on speaking terms.
