highest paid rappers 2020 billboard highest paid rappers 2020 billboard

Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox, A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry. Sales: $5.2M 4 in physical album sales after moving 517,000 copies of their recordings. For measurement, the magazine used pretax earningsbefore deducting fees for agents, managers or lawyers. Check out the count-down of the best rappers of 2023. Grande was 2019s No. Last years rank: 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. Streaming: $9.1M Last years Money Makers ranking credited the K-pop boy band phenom with keeping physical formats alive with its total sales of 827,000 albums. The groups streaming performance was in line with other Latin heritage acts: Aventura generated 731.8 million in combined streams, which translated to just shy of $1 million in streaming royalties. 1. Based in Philadelphia, he gained recognition after releasing his debut single, "Money .more. Streaming royalty rates applied were 22% for new hit artists; 33% for superstar artists, 46% for heritage artists and 74% for artists that own their master recordings. Shot and killed in a highway Tripple Beanz. The combined royalties from those streams add up to just shy of $10 million, which makes him the fourth top-earner in that category. On this years list, six hip-hop artists who didnt make the cut for the 2019 list ranked in the top 20. Sales: $635K Redmans rugged yet humorous rhymes and infectious personality make him one of hip-hops most beloved MCs. Known for his versatility, Ed Sheeren's cross-genre success has brought him to the top. 1 twice on the Billboard 200, while all six of the groups albums were certified either gold or platinum. 1 album since 1982. Streaming: $7.1M ), among the catchiest singles in hip-hop history. Drake $14.2 million7. Last Played. Last years rank: No. Publishing: $373K Net worth: $820 million. Lyrics Quiz. The classic psych-rockers ranked even higher in the sales royalties category No. Abel Tesfayes alter ego may have been snubbed by the Grammys, but he fared exceptionally well when it came to royalties. 5. Impeach the president, pulling out my RAY-GUN/ Zap the next one, I could be your shogun, he exploded over the Bomb Squads revolutionary, deconstructed production. Sales: $1.5M Publishing royalties were estimated using the statutory mechanical rates for album and track sales. Now a rap elder statesman, Bun keeps a keen eye on next-gen talent, offering key co-signs to such contemporary stars as Drake and Kodak Black. It's impossible to overstate the influence of rap on popular culture. 14 spot ($9.7M). But with his peerless technical skills, larger-than-life personality and turn-of-the-century run of classic albums, Slim Shady has rightfully earned his spot in the upper echelon of GOAT rappers lists. 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. Tariq Trotter, co-founder of the legendary Roots crew and the long-running Phillybands lead MC, still amazes rap fans with electrifying stream-of-consciousness radio freestyles and brilliant live performances. To this day, the album remains an undisputed classic, and he continued evolving and staying relevant, scoring No. 1 on Billboards 2020 Money Makers list is one of the few unsurprising results of a ranking that holds many surprises. Halseys 2020 album, Manic, debuted at No. Streaming: $6.8M Meanwhile, the per-play publishing rates used for calculating publishing royalties from Music Choice was 43 cents; SiriusXM, $8.33; and programmed streams, $0.0003. Cole Type Beat on procrastination (broke). He also went platinum with all five of his 2010s albums the last three (2014 Forest Hills Drive, 4 Your Eyez Only and KOD) with no features, of course. 9 Sales: $185K 1 on Top Gospel Albums. James is the 6th richest female rapper in the world. Publishing: $1.17M His imaginative vision also vaulted him into hip-hop lore, as he and director Hype Williams whipped up some of the genres most innovative videos, including Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See and Dangerous. Aside from his puckish verses, Rhymes brought his A game when paired with R&B greats such as Mariah Carey (I Know What You Want) and Janet Jackson (Whats It Gonna Be?!). Last years rank: No. In 2022, he relaunched the Rock the Bells Festival in Queens, which included performances from Rick Ross, The Diplomats, Ice Cube and more. While 2020 proved to be a huge setback for most artists' revenue, a new Billboard article says a number of rappers are among the highest-paid musicians of the year. The fledgling labels first album to crack the top 50, Radio spent 38 weeks on the Billboard 200 and claimed platinum status in 1989. The group notched three No. 4 in the top streaming royalties category. Income: $110 million. Those releases helped Slim Shady reach No. Streaming: $5.9M Post Malone $23.2 million3. Although Eilish played just three 2020 pre-pandemic dates on her Where Do We Go? Publishing: $436.3K Publishing: $2.6M His impact is undeniable: Nas, Jay-Z, De La Soul, KRS-One and Redman are just a few of the rappers who have sampled Blows music. 1 albums (the most amongst solo acts), and over 140 million records sold. 24, $7.4M), Rod Wave (No. Publishing: $1.53M During raps golden age, I Need a Beat opened the door to the b-boy style, with unmatched energy and aggressive lyricism that became a genre hallmark. The pandemic interrupted Joels quasi-monthly residency at Madison Square Garden, cutting the $23.2 million he took home from those shows in 2019 to $2.5 million in 2020. Sales: $564K 5 in digital downloads (261,000) for the year and No. 5 and 6 in those categories, respectively. Despite his gaudy wins, the mercurial MC had his fair share of battles, most notably with Brooklyn titan The Notorious B.I.G, which turned into heartbreaker for both coasts. In 2020, Forbes reported that the English singer-songwriter received $64 million from his singing activities. Touring: $0. 1s: In da Club and 21 Questions with Nate Dogg. 11. Whether its her work on Fugees blockbuster 1996 album The Score or her game-changing 1998 debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, she has influenced a host of hip-hop artists over the decades. Publishing: $1.1M After finding God, Rev. Sales: $1.8M 2 after placing No. YoungBoy earned $10 million via streams, along with $1.7 million in publishing. As a result, Metallica placed at No. 1s with Mo Money Mo Problems and Hypnotize. Big completed two classic solo albums, 1994s Ready to Die and 1997s double-disc Life After Death the latter spending four weeks at No. The embattled rapper finished at No. 14. , as there seem to be some shenanigans involved with their accounting. In early 2023, Billboard/Vibe is ranking the Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time as part of our salute to this year's golden anniversary of hip-hop. The Brooklyn teens opening salvo was I Cram to Understand U (Sam), a song that spoke about the perils of falling in love with a crack addict. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. He was featured on Eminems Those Kinda Nights, which peaked at No. On Public Enemys 1987 Rebel Without a Pause, the seminal groups mighty orator backed by raps archetypal hype man in Flavor Flav made it clear that hip-hop would never be the same. Ross has notched 58 Billboard Hot 100 entries spanning three decades, but his legacy doesnt end there: His Maybach Music Group laid the tarmac for Meek Mill and Wale to take off and become titans in the 2010s. Billboard, on the other hand, is all about the statistics. The group also shot videos for each of the 10 tracks on the addiction-themed album, which contributed to total streaming revenue of $1.3 million. Eminem surprise-released two albums in 2020, Music To Be Murdered By and a deluxe version, Music To Be Murdered By Side B. Like many hip-hop artists, his sales royalties were minimal. When touring is in full bloom, heritage rockers, country artists and jam bands dominate Money Makers because of their concert grosses. Streaming royalties consist of on-demand audio and video streams plus estimated royalties from programmed satellite, cable and webcasting services like SiriusXM and Music Choice. Lyrically, she pushed hip-hop beyond its boundaries regarding female empowerment, with a fearlessness that also imbued her innovative and still-influential music videos. Streaming: $10.6M On Chronic, his 1992 triple-platinum-certified gangsta rapopus, Dre also exhibits an effortless delivery on the mic, with a commanding voice thats one of the genres most recognizable. Maybe there are other rappers who could claim to match Jay at his peak. Q-Tip, co-founder of the alternative hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, has been on point for over 30 years. He wasnt necessarily the best lyricist, nor did he possess the craziest flow. He earned $2 million in publishing and $712,500 in sales. He was also the beneficiary of almost 1.7 million terrestrial radio spins, which made him the fifth-most-played artist in that format. 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. Rap Quiz. In fact, Reggie Noble led off Eminems list of the greatest MCs within the latters pump-up perennial Till I Collapse. With EPMDs Erick Sermon as a mentor, Redman (aka Funk Doc) exceeded expectations in 1992 when his debut studio project Whut? Touring: $4.2M. Here are the richest rappers in the UK. Even with those shiny accomplishments, its Nasir Jones longevity and adaptability that make him a one-of-a-kind specimen. She ranks even higher on the Global Money Makers list because of her strong global performance, particularly in streaming. Last years rank: No. Those wins contributed to his Money Makers debut as a solo act. LL spent his entire career at Def Jam, becoming their jack-of-all-trades a hitmaker for the ladies and a multi platform trailblazer for artists to cross over into such other fields as TV and philanthropy. Publishing: $1.6M Sales: $768K Publishing: $1.8M Touring: $0. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic curtailing chances for any artists to tour in 2020, several big-name rappers still made money through streaming and other means last year. 7 in overall sales royalties with $3.7 million. Billboard estimated each artists songwriters share of the recorded music included in these calculations, and publishing royalties were calculated as co-publishing deals, giving the writer 75% of those royalties. Publishing: $1.3M NBA YoungBoy $11.9 million10. 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. Tips laid-back, smooth-talkin flow came peppered with immortal lyrics in playful songs like Bonita Applebum. His body of work further established the creative link between hip-hop and jazz. Method Man is hip-hops version of create-a-player perfection. It took a minute, but Common (then Common Sense) finally garnered national praise after launching one of the most celebrated three-album runs in rap history: 1994sResurrection, 1997sOne Day Itll All Make Sense and 2000sLike Water for Chocolate. His executive producer status grew as he created his Junior Mafia clique writing and producing their 1995 Conspiracy album, then releasing JM breakout star Lil Kims Hard Core debut in 1996. (Billboard counts her siblings share as part of the artists revenue base.) DaBaby $9.1 million18. and Snoop Dogg to Eminem, Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar. Their lyrical skirmish ended in tragedy when Pac was shot and killed in a Las Vegas shooting in 96, rocking the entire music world. 3 title on the year-end Billboard 200 albums chart. 1. His most potent project came when he released his double-disc album All Eyez On Me the next year. Last years rank: All the numbers are down this year because COVID limited touring. Sales: $970.7K Basic Statistic Highest-paid women in . That dollar total was also boosted by fans preference for vinyl copies of the bands albums, which accounted for 72% of physical sales. Publishing: $2M Unlike most other R&B/hip-hop acts, The Weeknd also generated strong sales royalties. Snoop Doggy Dogg. Lil Baby generated over 6.2 billion streams, almost 4.6 million of which were audio, for $9.1 million. Three 2020 releases Map of the Soul: 7, Map of the Soul: 7 The Journey and Be helped BTS sell almost 1.5 million CDs. the year's most popular r&b/hip-hop songs, ranked by streaming activity from digital music sources tracked by luminate, radio airplay audience impressions as provided by luminate and sales data as . We're always a bit suspicious of Forbes highest-paid musician lists, as there seem to be some shenanigans involved with their accounting. Sales: $591.7K 22 ($8.2 million), Roddy Ricch at No. Works like BDPs By All Means Necessary and the KRS-formed Stop the Violence Movements star-studded 1989 single Self-Destruction are some of the most powerful moments that hip-hop has ever witnessed. Publishing: $1.8M Singers Quiz. Rod Wave is among the many hip-hop artists who dominated last year and earned a spot on Billboard'sranking of the highest-paid musicians of 2020, including Travis Scott, DaBaby, Kanye West, Roddy Ricch, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, and Lil Uzi Vert. Aventura $10.2 million13. The art-metal outfit released Fear Inoculum, its first album in 13 years, in late-summer 2019 and played nine 2020 dates behind it before canceling the rest of the tour. (As in past rankings, DJs are included on Money Makers because they rarely report their live earnings, which constitute most of their income. 8. Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Even if Hill never drops a proper sophomore album, she remains a peerless talent who can still outrap anyone as proven by her memorable verse on Nas KD2 gem Nobody in 2021. The evolution continued with the R&B, psychedelic soul, and pop-infused DAMN. 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. Last years rank: No. Theres Safe from his 2002 album The Fix. Over a slew of genre-bending albums (Pink Friday, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, The Pinkprint) and killer guest verses (most famously on Kanye Wests Monster), Nicki has defended her title for over a decade, with incredibly animated flows and alter egos from the soft-spoken, pink-haired Harajuku Barbie to the volatile Roman Zolanski with the British cockney accent. Streaming: $2.97M Sales: $348K Ed Sheeran is among the highest-paid rappers globally, with an estimated net worth of $200 million. 1 as a guest on Rae SremmurdsBlack Beatles.. after his scene-stealing verse on their 1991 hit Same Song. Pacs duality as a solo artist was remarkable: One minute, he was endearing, scripting empathetic classics like Dear Mama and Keep Your Head Up; the other, he was explosive, lacing up his war boots, ready to ride on his enemies (Hit Em Up and Hail Mary). And that was only the tip of the iceberg: After releasing 2022s I Never Liked You, featuring current Grammy nominee and No. And Kanes skill set remains sharp, whether hes tackling police brutality on his 2020 cut Enough or reeling off a fantastic guest cameo on mentee Busta Rhymes 2022 song Slap.. Touring: $5M. Yet on the 1998 collaborative milestoneMos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, Bey proved to be so much more a revelation further amplified on the unmoored race mans gold-certified 1999 solo debutBlack on Both Sides. All Rights Reserved. Blow may not possess his descendants complex rhyme skills, but he was a star in his own right thanks to a magnetic voice and charismatic stage presence. Sales: $4.3M Billie Eilish $14.7 million6. His prolific output resulted in almost 3.7 billion U.S. audio streams, the 10th-largest in the category, and 4.7 billion combined streams, which netted him $6.8 million in royalties and secured him the No. Fleetwood Macs place on this list is partly due to the viral Ocean Spray TikTok video set to Dreams (and its several homages) that sent the 1977 No. Pink Floyd hasnt released a studio album since 2014 and it still managed to finish at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. 26 And though he generated almost 3 billion more streams than Taylor Swift, he takes second place in streaming royalties because Swift owns her masters and is paid more per stream. He received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honor in India, in 2018. The highest-paid hip-hop artists of 2021 have been revealed and JAY-Z and Kanye West once again top the list. The songs helped give her a nice mix of sales, streaming and publishing revenue. Jay-Z ($560 million) Music . Raphael Pour-Hashemi, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We also opted not to include thesignificant contributionsof reggaetn and dancehall MCs on this list,just to keep our pool of nominees a little more focused. These are the . 17 ($9.1 million), Future at No. Publishing: $840K Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many delayed their albums and did not get the chance to tour, but thanks in large part . Where he really shone, though, was on terrestrial radio: Bieber was the top artist in the category with almost 2.4 million plays. Like AC/DC and Queen, Metallica owns its masters, which means the bands royalties are calculated at a rate of 78% (from which 4% goes to the producers of its albums). The Beatles $12.9 million9. 1 live touring revenue generator for 2020, that amounts to $17 million in take-home pay, which puts Dion at the top of the concert earnings ranking and accounted for over 98% of her overall 2020 income. Touring: $0. One of hip-hops most creative visionaries, Missy Misdemeanor Elliott began honing her skills as a rapper, singer, songwriter and producer as a member of the R&B/hip-hop collective Swing Mob in the early 90s with childhood friend/producer Timbaland. Sales: $336.6K Pink Floyd $8.8 million. 1 single Wait for U with Drake and Tems, he now boasts eight No. He led Run-DMC to historic heights, as they became the first hip-hop group to flex B-Boy minimalism to the masses(Sucker MCs), go gold (1984s King of Rock), appear on MTV, reach multiplatinum status (with 1986s landmarkRaising Hell, punctuated by the boundary-breaking Aerosmith collab Walk This Way), headline arena tours and ink a major endorsement deal (Adidas). He earned $23.2 million, of which $12.4 million is from touring prior to the pandemic shutdown. 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. Like Roddy Ricchs, Waves video streams were particularly robust 793.5 million, the fifth-highest in the category. 2023 Billboard Media, LLC. The Staten Island lyricist draws from a Technicolor palette of inimitable slang, colorful character profiles, luxurious wares and slippery flows to craft vibrant, imaginative stories. Touring: $8.8M. Although he has yet to release his long-awaited album Certified Lover Boy, Drake continues to put up big numbers, landing at No. He is that rare artist who still sells downloads, and ranked at No. Publishing: $1.5M The albums smash single, The Box, spent 11 consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100, and Ricchs feature on DaBabys No. Hip-hop artists remain musics top money makers. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100and anotherfour on the Billboard 200 albums chart are nothing to scoff at, as Ludacris chart resum can stand up to just about any of his rap contemporaries. 5 see charts legends And rap artists have similarly dominated the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 2020 as well. The late rapper continues to be an inspiration to waves of rappers, particularly Bronx-bred MCs like Fat Joe, Remy Ma and Cardi B. Collection download grand theft auto v m Sales: $119K 2 on the Billboard 200 in April and land eight tracks on the Hot 100. Streaming: $3.74M Lil Uzi Vert. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy. Touring: $0. Top Rap Artists Ranking is based on an artist's chart performance on the Hot Rap Songs, Top Rap Albums and Boxscore touring revenue. Run the Jewels, "Walking in the Snow". Sales: $485K History is also on his side: Hov has 14 Billboard 200 No. He can turn the mundane into something sweet (Foldin Clothes) or act out in rebellion (Fire Squad). Rozays Hustlin dreams turned to gold when he rattled the cages of raps mainstream with his 2006 summer anthem and pledged his allegiance to Def Jam and its ex-president Jay-Z. 1 single, HUMBLE, the album won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, the first non-jazz or classical work to do so. Publishing: $1.5M Streaming: $1.33M World Tour (only two of which were reported to Boxscore), she still made a bundle in streaming and publishing income. When he wasnt baring his soul, DMX steadily proved he could hang with raps best: LL Cool J, Jay-Z, Nas, Busta Rhymes and others have all experienced Xs untameable aggression firsthand. . For the first time, YoungBoy Never Broke Again scores a spot on the top Money Makers at No. Sales: $4.3M 25 (7.37 million), Kanye West at No. However, after the murder of the groups DJ Scott La Rock, he shifted to socially conscious rap aimed at empowering Black people and resolving the ills plaguing inner-city communities. Scott moved up four places in the rankings in 2020, even though his take-home pay in 2019 was $15.5 million. Despite his legal problems, YoungBoy Never Broke Again managed to collect bank thanks to streaming. 8 in that category. #4 of 97. 24 ($7.4 million), Rod Wave at No. Taylor Swift $23.8 million2. Hes the artistic, esoteric and philosophical rapper who juxtaposed the streetwise and humble delivery of the groups late Phife Dawg. Plutos epic mixtape three-peat of Monster, Beast Mode, and 56 Nights followed by thecritically acclaimed DS2 and his What a Time to Be Alive joint project with Drake all within the calendar year of 2015 could be the best use of 365 days that rap has ever seen. No matter the moniker, theres no denying Calvin Broadus Jr.s estimable impact as one of the founding fathers of West Coast and gangsta rap. 22 After a disappointing debut effort with 2001s Im Serious, T.I. 1 on the Billboard 200 and finished 2020 as the No. But even among those heavy-hitters, Kane more than held his weight: Tracks like Aint No Half Steppin, Set It Off and Smooth Operator sound as spirited now as they did decades ago. Published by on 30 junio, 2022 Six months after the death of Tupac Shakur, Biggie was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 1997. LLs list of achievements includes being the first rapper to be awarded the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor. The prosecution argues Lil Boosie paid Michael "Marlo Mike" Louding $2,800 to kill a his rival Terry Boyd. 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. Most of his income has come from tours, with the Divide Tour . 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. They did even better internationally and topped the 2020 Global Money Makers ranking. With 15 Grammy awards, 10 No. While her 2.37 billion in combined streams is the main reason she made the cut, she also ranked at No. And he did all of it as one of the Souths first real rap stars, showcasing lyrical complexity and emotional depth in a region that was once wholly dismissed while also making classic cuts with legends from both coasts, like Jay-Z, Nas and 2Pac. Publishing: $1.6M Christopher The Notorious B.I.G. Wallace is the ultimate rap phenomenon. The late Juice WRLD displaced Drake as the top on-demand audio streaming artist in 2020, but Drizzy remains the No. The Copyright Royalty Board streaming formula produced an average publishing rate of 13.1% for on-demand audio streaming revenue; the blended per-play terrestrial radio rates, according to Massarsky Consulting, were applied, ranging from 82 cents to $4, depending on the genre and whether hit songs triggered bonus payment plans from the songwriters performing rights organization. 19,008 votes. Fueled by 744 million web radio plays they were the No. When you consider the evolution of hip-hop, Rakim is the source material for pioneering the use of internal and multisyllabic rhymes, penning intricate lyrics and shifting the overall use of simple flows to more complex deliveries. 1 debut of Get Rich or Die Tryin in 2003. Revenue from merchandising, synchronization and sponsorship and livestream concerts is not included. 6 on last years list. Touring: $0. 2 with $23.2 million, most of which came from streaming ($8.1 million) and touring ($12.4 million) before he had to shut it down due to the pandemic. It would be the first of twelve chart-topping albums for Wayne, including his iconic Tha Carter series, boasting a plethora of platinum plaques in the process. Last years rank: Signing to Death Row upon his 1995 prison release formed hip-hops strongest triumvirate, with him, Dr. Dre, and a burgeoning Snoop Dogg leading the way. 1 album, My Turn, which landed 12 songs simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 2020, vaulted him to No. 1, and the second reached No. Streaming: $290 Streaming: $939.5K Em also certifiably spits a mile a minute, breaking Guinness World Records like fastest rap in a hit single with Godzilla, where he rapped 225 words in a 30-second segment. Shes also the No. Bars about investing and saving money? Publishing: $1.2M Last years rank: All revenue figures cited are Billboard estimates and, due to rounding, an artists total may not equal the sum of the subcategories. Sales: $557K KRS-One is also battle-tested: 1987s The Bridge Is Over, recorded in response to MC Shans The Bridge, is one of the most respected (and referenced) diss tracks of all time. 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.