Last Updated: June 2023-

The year is 2016. Hip-hop has yet to produce billionaire. Here are the top 5 richest hip-hop artists.

Hip-hop struggled to be accepted into the mainstream for the longest time. In the past decade, however, in this era of global communication, more hip-hop has hit the market than ever before.

Hip-hop culture is now widespread and it is not just accepted culturally but it is the culture.

In the march towards who is the richest rapper and the richest hip-hop artist, there are five names that continue to get closer to the prize that so many strive for.

The top 5 richest hip-hop artists in 2016 was a notable list as a new name made his way onto the list.

After years of being dominated by the same five names, Drake’s net worth of $60 million surged his way into fifth place, eliminating 50 Cent from the list.

#5 Drake – Net Worth: $60M

Breaking into the top 5 richest hip-hop artists in 2016, Drake is unquestionably the name with the most momentum right now from a purely cultural perspective.

Toronto-based Drake just dropped his #1 record “Views” (released in 2016) which is the follow-up album to the Grammy award winning “Nothing Was The Same” (released in 2013).

Throughout the past year, he’s also put out the highly acclaimed “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” mixtape and a subsequent collaboration with Future in “What A Time To Be Alive”, alongside the 2015 summer single “Hotline Bling”.

Drake has also continued to remain at the helm of deals related to Toronto’s OVO Music Festival, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and multiple sponsorship deals with major corporate brand names such as Nike and Apple.

#4 Birdman – Net Worth: $110M

Birdman, the co-founder of Cash Money Records, has seen his net worth shrink over the past few years from a high of $140M to $110M but he maintains his place on the list.

With label releases not fairing as well as they have in years past, Cash Money Records is still a strong brand but its profits pale in comparison to what was making in the early 2010s.

Don’t rule them out though.

Cash Money Records still has strong deals in place with some of hip-hop’s biggest names including Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil’ Wayne that are sure to set the label up for a lucrative future.

#3 Jay Z – Net Worth: $610M 

Jay-Z, the Brooklyn-bred rapper continues to battle his way up the profit charts with a unique mix investments including the much-maligned and sometimes-praised Tidal streaming service.

Though Tidal has had its criticisms, the $56 million used to purchase the service has now grown in value to over $150 million, tripling the value of Tidal’s technology and service since Jay-Z made his initial purchase.

Jay-Z has routinely made smart investments in and out of music, growing his brand alongside his spouse Beyonce’s. Their joint net worth is impressively high, with Jay-Z potentially on his way to becoming the richest rapper of all-time.

This, in combination with other business investments has set Jay-Z up for a profitable future that could see him continue to climb this list in the years to come.

#2 Dr. Dre – Net Worth: $710M 

Coming in at number 2 on the list of the top 5 richest hip-hop artists in 2016 is Dr. Dre with a net worth of $710M.

Dr. Dre is most known within the contemporary hip-hop business for his continued involvement with the Beats headphones brand as well as the profits derived from the Dre-produced “Straight Outta Compton” biopic.

What is not widely known is how Dre continues to build his empire with an impressive portfolio of real estate, primarily in Southern California, which continues to grow seemingly with each year that passes.

Dr. Dre has been a stakeholder over the years that has been content being in the executive role and leaving a lot of the spotlight to those that are younger and hungrier than him.

He has helped countless musical artists in rap and hip-hop build their careers in the music industry.

#1 Sean Combs – Net Worth: $750M

The richest man in hip-hop continues to be Diddy with a staggering net worth of $750M.

This was largely built around sponsorship agreements and his ownership value in assets such as the Revolt TV network, the Sean John clothing line, Deleon tequila, Aquahydrate alkaline water. He also runs his own record label, Bad Boy Records, which features talent such as Diddy himself, Machine Gun Kelly, and French Montana.

Diddy exemplifies how to make the most money in music, it’s not necessarily through writing, recording, and performing.

A long time ago, Sean Combs stepped away from building the Puff Daddy and P. Diddy brands, instead focusing on helping other musicians achieve their dreams. In doing that, him and his record label made lots of money, garnered lots of acclaim, and the return on that was him having made more than anyone in the hip-hop field.

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