Cash Kings: The World's Highest-Paid Hip-Hop Acts Of 2014

Apple  shelled out $3 billion to purchase Beats, the company founded by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. Though the latter quickly claimed to be hip-hop’s first billionaire, a nine-figure tax bill means that won’t happen immediately—but he’s well on his way. In the meantime, Dre has been racking up plenty of other financial accomplishments. His latest: capturing this year’s hip-hop cash crown with pretax earnings of $620 million. Not only is that the highest annual total of any entertainer ever evaluated by FORBES, it’s more than the combined earnings of all 24 of his companions on the 2014 Hip-Hop Cash Kings list.

“It’s safe to say a headphone is a good business,” says DJ Khaled, who makes his debut at No. 20 with estimated earnings of $7 million.

This list of highest paid rappers of 2014 was pretty much created by Forbes and this year the Cash King list has some serious heavy hitters and some new contenders. It's interesting to note that Nicki Minaj holds it down solo for female MCs. To give you an idea of how this list was computed read this tidbit from Forbes:

Dre tops the list with $620 million pre-tax income. The sale of Beats by Dre to Apple for $3billion went a long way to putting him the position of number one this year according to Forbes.

Diddy and Jay Z sit tied at $60 million in the number two spot.  Hov's business comes from the growing Roc Nation Empire, concert tours and an album, which was certified platinum before it was released due to an agreement with Samsung to buy 1 million copies.

Diddy keeps pushing expanding his businesses with Diageo’s Ciroc vodka making him the most money followed by DeLeon tequila, Blue Flame marketing, Sean Jean clothing, and Revolt TV. –

Surprisingly Drake comes in fourth with $33 million in earnings. His fourth studio album, Nothing Was the Same, has sold about 4 million copies worldwide; additional checks from an arena tour and endorsement deal with Nike’s Jordan line have tripled Drake’s 2013 earnings of $10.5 million.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis round out the top five with a combined $32 million. The multi-Grammy winning duo was able to push their brand further after pretty much sealing their place earlier this year in music. Flip through to see who rounded out the list.

6. Kanye West with $30m; 7. Birdman $24 million; 8. Lil Wayne - $23 million; 9. Pharrell Williams - $22 million; 10. Eminem - $18 million; 11. Nicki Minaj - $14 million; 12. Wiz Khalifa - $13 million; 13. Pitbull - $12 million; 14. Snoop Dogg - $10 million; 15. Kendrick Lamar - $9 million; 16. Ludacris - $8 million (tie); 16. Tech N9ne - $8 million (tie); 16. Swizz Beatz - $8 million (tie); 16. 50 Cent - $8 million (tie); 20. Rick Ross - $7 million (tie); 20. J Cole - $7 million (tie); 20. DJ Khaled - $7 million (tie); 20. Lil Jon - $7 million (tie); 20. Mac Miller - $7 million (tie).

Follow Me On Twitter & Instagram: @effiongeton