Last years rank: Ross demanded attention through his deep gruff-and-grunting ad-libs, colorful street tales and inside looks at Miamis lavish lifestyle, plus his incredible ear for production more appetizing than a lemon-pepper Wingstop order. The LOX frontman fostered his hip-hop breakout with a co-sign from The Notorious B.I.G., then stomped his way to prominence with his Timberlands and hard-nosed raps. Touring: $2.7M. So well never know what the then-24-year-old could have accomplished if hed been allowed a career as long and as storied as his peers. The White Teeth rapper ranked No. Touring: $0. He struck special chemistry with Wu compatriot Raekwon when the two adopted prominent roles on each others classic 90s debuts, Ironman and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, respectively. 11 ($10.4M), while Eminem holds down the No. NBA YoungBoy is the third highest paid rapper in 2020 behind Drake and Post Malone who was the highest earner. Im not a player, I just crush a lot, Big Pun declared on the 1998 smash hit Still Not a Player from his debut album Capital Punishment. 10. Touring: $0. As a result, Billboard estimates that the pop phenomenon took home 46% of her sales and streaming royalties (after deducting a 4 percentage-point producers cut) compared with the 33% that superstar artists typically earn when they dont own their masters. Your IP: When his metal band Body Counts incendiary Cop Killer (1992) nearly derailed his career, Ice also helpedopen a new lane for hip-hop: acting (New Jack City, Law & Order: SVU). 6 spot in box-office revenue. 1 on the Billboard 200. "Things got bigger and betterGod is great," says DJ Khaled, who ranks No. He set a new benchmark for erasing musical boundaries and ignoring popular trends, influencing a host of generation-next talents like Pharrell Williams, Kanye West and Tyler, the Creator. As a wellspring of talent, Virginia has had an outsized influence on popular music. Thee Album became an instant hip-hop classic with its early use of funk samples and hilarious punchlines. It was one of five songs she landed on the chart that year: Three were collaborations, with Marshmello (Be Kind), Machine Gun Kelly (Forget Me Too) and Kelsea Ballerini (The Other Girl), while the fourth was her country-flavored solo track, You Should Be Sad, which peaked at No. Streaming: $3.2M 1 at the end of that year and kept on selling and streaming through 2020, as well as delivering two 2020 Hot 100 hits, Watermelon Sugar, which topped the chart in August, and Adore You, which hit No. Sales: $1.8M Following Taylor Swift, who ranks No. Her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty established her as a lyrical powerhouse, shortly before she emerged as the First Lady of Young Money, solidifying the labels ineffable trinity of chart-conquering rap beasts with Lil Wayne and Drake. But there are simply none who can match his entire career his longevity, the breadth of his accomplishments, and what hes meant to hip-hop from a musical, cultural and financial standpoint for the last three decades. talladega high school basketball. Touring: $0. Starting in the early 00s with production on hits for Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel and Talib Kweli, Kanye West moved in front of the mic in 2003 with his solo debut, Through the Wire, then scored his first Hot 100 No. Revenue from featured artist appearances is credited to the main artists but other recording collaborations usually denoted as a duet with, + or & or X are generally split evenly by the artists. In a year with little touring, hip-hop/R&B acts dominated streaming sales and accounted for nearly a third of the 40 artists on the list, including four in the top 10Drake, Post Malone, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, and Lil Baby. The Dominican American bachata group, fronted by Romeo Santos, played 15 pre-pandemic U.S. shows in 2020 its first tour since breaking up in 2011. The Disturbing Tha Peace label co-founders industry acclaim finally caught up to his mainstream appeal when he took home the Grammys for best rap album and best rap song Grammys in 2007, thanks to the introspective Release Therapy and its Pharrell-featuring smash lead single Money Maker., Gucci Mane went from teenage drug dealer to Atlanta rap deity in the 200s, with sedated raps and a Hollywood story Spike Lee couldnt script. Earning 10 Grammy nods for Miseducation, Hill won five, including best new artist and album of the year. Streaming: $10.6M As the legendary rap duo UGK, Bun B and the late Pimp C kept the spotlight on Texas while taking the baton from the Scarface-led triad Geto Boys. Busta Rhymes scene-stealing feature on A Tribe Called Quests 1992 single Scenario introduced a Brooklyn MC that took over the late 90s and early 00s with his animated voice and exuberant rhymes. 31, and then charted with his own single, South of the Border, featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B, which hit No. Touring: $12.4M. The list breaks down to 22 contemporary artists and 18 heritage artists. BILLIE EILISH. Last years rank: Eminem $9.7 million15. Lyrics Quiz. Lil Uzi Vert $9.5 million16. Even Swift, that rare artist with strong sales, streaming and touring numbers, saw her take-home pay drop from $99.6 million in 2018 the last time she was on the list to $23.8 million. Wave had zero physical sales last year. He co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records, collected 24 Grammys, ran hip-hops legendary Def Jam Records as president, guided Rihanna and Ye to billionaire status, founded a behemoth entertainment/sports agency in Roc Nation and best-selling spirits brands Dusse and Armand de Brignac and even today, still makes time to drop four-minute long rap verses that break the internet (as he did on DJ Khaleds God Did in 2022). 1 Hot 100 hit to the top 10 of the Streaming Songs chart in October 2020. 38 He came close to ranking in the top 10 for sales royalties with 435,000 physical albums scanned that year 266,000 of them vinyl albums. Capital Punishment also topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and peaked at No. That year also marked his major foray into film with the Black Panther the Album. During his 30+-year career, the global best-selling producer, often cited as hip-hops GOAT behind the boards, boasts a treasure trove of lyricists who have written for him, from Ice Cube, the D.O.C. Diddy or Puff Daddy: Sean Combs, once the world's richest rapper, has an incredible net worth of $820 million, according to Forbes. Touring: $4.2M. Check the list below: 1. They live in mansions, drive fast cars, buy expensive clothes and treat themselves welland they sure do enjoy it. 1 on the Hot 100, helping DaBaby rank ninth in combined streams audio, video and programmed with almost 4.8 billion and eighth in streaming royalties with $7.1 million. Despite the lack of new music, Ye still generated 2.6 billion in combined streams, which yielded a $3.9 million payday. I will not lose. Brooklyns Shawn Jay-Z Carters defiant-yet-confident declaration has proven true through his legendary career. Sales: $800K 7 in overall sales royalties with $3.7 million. To this day, the album remains an undisputed classic, and he continued evolving and staying relevant, scoring No. The late rapper continues to be an inspiration to waves of rappers, particularly Bronx-bred MCs like Fat Joe, Remy Ma and Cardi B. Billboard has released its highest-paid musicians of 2020. And hearing him master the double-time flow on 1999s Slim Shady-featuring Forgot About Dre, from the six-times-platinum-certified masterpiece 2001, is still a shock to the system. Publishing: $1.8M The set was powered by the majestic Intl Players Anthem featuring OutKast. Queen $13.2 million8. His two . Despite putting up strong streaming numbers in 2019, Lil Baby did not make the cut last year because touring royalties played such an outsize role (as they usually do) in determining the top 40. Ed Sheeran - $200 Million. Christopher The Notorious B.I.G. Wallace is the ultimate rap phenomenon. As of March 2023, J. Cole's net worth is estimated to be $60 Million. You Got Me, the Erykah Badi-featuring crossover duet from the Roots platinum-selling album Things Fall Apart, remains a shining moment thanks to his rich baritone and riveting storytelling. 1 overall streaming artist (as he was in 2019) with almost 8 billion streams when the on-demand video and web radio streams he amassed last year are included. 10 in 2020 physical album sales with 402,000 copies scanned, helped by the deluxe box set rerelease of its concert film and album, Delicate Sound of Thunder. 25 (7.37 million), Kanye West at No. Pandemic-induced isolation led to Bad Bunnys most successful year yet, yielding three albums, including the best-selling Latin album in the United States and Spotifys most globally streamed album of 2020, YHLQMDLG. Although the group hasnt put out a studio album since 2016s Hardwired To Self-Destruct, the August 2020 release of the live set S&M2 and digitally remastered versions of its 10-album catalog helped boost it to No. Under his now-retired moniker Mos Def, Brooklyn native Bey broke into the underground scene on Rawkus Records influential 1997 compilationSoundbombingwith a charismatic presence that recalled the early 80s chief rocker days of Busy Bee Starski. and Snoop Dogg to Eminem, Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar. Looking at revenue streams, touring income, based on Billboard Boxscore data, fell tenfold, from $779 million in 2019 to $79 million and accounted for just 20% of artists collective 2020 take-home pay. Streaming: $2.2M Streaming: $3.9M In a year with little touring, hip-hop/R&B acts dominated . Publishing: $1.9M In 2020, Forbes ranked Kohli 66th in their list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world for that year, with estimated earnings of $26 million. 1. Like many hip-hop artists, his sales royalties were minimal. Even when dueling alongside rap greats like Jay-Z (Swagger Like Us), Eminem (Touchdown) and Kanye West (Welcome to the World), T.I. Last year . Streaming: $5.5M He has definitely earned his place as one of the world's highest-paid rappers, with annual earnings of $21 million in 2020. But despite the crossover success, Wayne continued to feed his Mixtape Weezy fanbase with cult-favorite series like Da Drought, No Ceilings and Sorry 4 the Wait, and fearlessly reinvented himself with a rap-rock sound via 2010 album Rebirth, which continues to inspire new-school rappers like Lil Uzi Vert and Playboi Carti. 1 Billboard 200 albums and three RIAA-certified Diamond singles (Lose Yourself, Love the Way You Lie and Not Afraid), his unprecedented commercial success makes for one of the most noteworthy rags-to-riches tales in popular music. AC/DC $10.1 million14. His streaming numbers are exceptionally strong given his genre: When the deluxe version of his 2019 album, What You See Is What You Get, was released in October 2020, it generated 102.26 million in a single week, breaking Combs own record for the largest streaming week for a country album, set when the original release came out. Whether hes crooning his aches and pains on timeless gems (Marvins Room and Jaded) or slashing down hapless MCs (5 AM in Toronto and Omerta), Drakes virtuosic skillset has made him one of the most gifted (and most accomplished artists to ever touch down in music. And that was only the tip of the iceberg: After releasing 2022s I Never Liked You, featuring current Grammy nominee and No. Albums like AmeriKKKas Most Wanted and Death Certificate still stand as some of raps most provocative works and when he wasnt sharpening his pro-Black commentary against the systemic racism crippling the community, he was equally adept at balancing tongue-in-cheek insights with feel-good storytelling, as on his timeless 1993 hit It Was a Good Day.. Prior to that in 2016, Mane scored his first Hot 100 No. 26. Run the Jewels, "Walking in the Snow". Other key performance drivers for the beerbongs & bentleys artist include his No. Sales: $4.3M Other acts in the top 30 include Lil Uzi Vert (No. His catalog reigns supreme, especially in the late 2000s and 2010s, as he doled out gems such as Trilla, Deeper Than Rap and God Forgives, I Dont. He also squeezed in seven live shows in early 2020, which amounted to a $91,500 paycheck for those performances. Between his Geto Boys tenure in the late 80s and his illustrious solo career stretching through the 2010s, Scarface laid bare the pitfalls of street life by presenting a stoic, pragmatic approach to hustling that differed from the flashy images glamorized by other artists. While his ascension from producer to artist has been remarkable, Wests quest as a fashion and business mogul, especially with his Yeezy empire, makes him one of the genres most impactful pioneers. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox, A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry. The evolution continued with the R&B, psychedelic soul, and pop-infused DAMN. AC/DC, which owns its catalog and receives a higher royalty rate because of that, released its 17th studio album, Power Up, in 2020, and it contributed to physical sales of 427,000 records from its catalog ranking the Australian headbangers seventh in that category and sixth in sales royalties.
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