Hip Hop Cash Kings Forbes Ranks The Earners

Forbes magazine has released it's first ever ranking of Hip Hop's top earners. Shawn Carter aka Jay Z tops the list with an estimated $34 million in 2006, earning him the top spot on Forbes' first-ever list of hip-hop Cash Kings.

Unlike traditional music genres like pop, rock and country, whose artists generally make the bulk of their money selling albums and touring, hip-hop has spawned an impressive cadre of musicians-cum-entrepreneurs who have parlayed their fame into lucrative entertainment empires.

While endorsement deals with top-shelf brands used to be the exclusive domain of pop's biggest acts--Michael Jackson and Madonna, among them--hip-hop artists now routinely land such gigs. This year Chamillionaire ($11 million) inked a deal with Energizer; The Game ($11 million) peddles Skechers sneakers. And in an irrefutable sign of just how corporate hip-hop has become: Last October Anheuser Busch named Jay-Z "co-brand director" for Budweiser Select.

Income estimates are based solely on 2006 income. In March, Jay-Z sold his Rocawear apparel label to Iconix  for $204 million. Forbes estimates he pocketed about a quarter of that, after taxes and other payable commitments. And in May, Coca Cola announced it would buy Glaceau, maker of VitaminWater, for $4.2 billion in cash. Once the deal is consummated, 50 Cent, who agreed to endorse the brand in 2004 in exchange for a small stake, should walk away with some $100 million.

Jay-Z, president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, released his 11th studio album, "Kingdom Come," which sold around 2 million copies. Jay-Z, 37, is also part owner of the New Jersey Nets and has endorsement deals with Budweiser, Hewlett-Packard and General Motors.

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, who nabbed the No. 2 spot on the list, presides over G-Unit, a diverse portfolio of businesses that includes apparel, ringtones, video games and even a line of fiction. All told, "Fiddy" as he is known to fans, made an estimated $32 million last year.

Sean "Diddy" Combs, No 3 on the list, owns Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group. Combs made an estimated $28 million last year but reps for Diddy insist that figure is much higher.

Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, No. 4 with estimated earnings of $21 million, runs Mosley Music Group, the Interscope-backed label responsible for some of last year's biggest albums, including Nelly Furtado's Loose and Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds. In 2006, Timbaland produced or performed on seven chart-topping singles.

Rounding out the top five is Andre "Dr. Dre" Young, No. 5 with earnings of $20 million, Dre's classics (including his landmark solo debut, The Chronic) still sell briskly, some 250,000 units last year alone.