Jay-Z tops Forbes’s hip-hop top 10 ranking

There's big money today in the one-time street-art of rap music - especially if you're big enough to branch out, like a pro-sports player, into sponsorship deals. Just as Roger Federer makes his fortune out of advertising wrist watches and trainers, so Sean 'Diddy' Combs promotes Ciroc vodka and Aliuane 'Akon' Thiam pushes Pepsi.

However, neither artist comes close to the earning power enjoyed by the man who easily tops the chart, Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter.

Jay-Z is doing so well out of co-owning the 40/40 nightclub chain, as well as producing hits like his chart-topping 2009 single Empire State of Mind, he'll soon be catching up with his wife Beyonce's earnings ($87 million).

As the compiler of the Forbes hip-hop ranking, Zack O'Malley Greenburg, puts it, the big money isn't in record sales per se. It's in the concert tours and the spin-offs like alcohol sponsorships, clothing lines, nightclub properties and film appearances.

"Artists don't put out albums anymore," says Greenburg, "they put out single hits, so they have reasons to tour. Hits and tours make you relevant, and they get you sponsorships, and earn you money from merchandise."

THE FORBES TOP TEN:

1. Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter, $63m

2. Sean 'Diddy' Combs, $30m

3. Aliuane 'Akon' Thiam, $21m

4. Dwayne 'Lil Wayne' Carter, $20m

5. Andre 'Dr Dre' Young, $17m

6. Christopher 'Ludacris' Bridges, $16m

7. Calvin 'Snoop Dogg' Broadus, $15m

8. Timothy 'Timbaland' Mosley, $14m

9. Pharrell Williams, $13m

10. Kanye West, $12m

11. Aubrey 'Drake' Graham, $10m

12=. Clifford 'T.I.' Harris, $9m

12=. Kasseem 'Swiss Beatz' Dean, $9m

14=. Marshall 'Eminem' Mathers, $8m

14=. Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson, $8m

14=. Jay 'Young Jeezy' Jenkins, $8m

17. Lonnie 'Common' Lynn Jr, $7m

18=. DeAndre 'Soulja Boy' Way, $6m

18=. Faheem 'T-Pain' Najm, $6m

20=. Jonathan 'Lil John' Smith, $5m

20=. Radric 'Gucci Mane' Davis, $5m

20=. William 'Rick Ross' Roberts, $5m

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