Jay-Z Crowned Forbes’ 2009 Hip-Hop Cash King

Words by Miles Bennett

It's that time of the year where Forbesbreaks down the hip-hop world's top 20 earners with this year's list for Hip-Hop's Cash Kings. Guess who's on top? 50 or Jay? Last year, 50 Cent took the throne last year thanks to his stake in VitaminWater's parent company Glacéau when it sold to Coca-Cola. But this year, Forbes crowned Jay-Z the genre's top Cash King, after he pulled in an estimated $35 million over the last 12 months. Despite making 57% less than last year, it was enough to beat out the likes of Diddy, Kanye West, Fiddy, Akon and Lil Wayne for the title. According to Forbes, both 50 and Jay's earnings dropped steeply from last year's list. For 50, it was a $100 million profit from his VitaminWater deal to put him on top, and for Jay it was a front-loaded $150 million deal with concert promoter Live Nation. But as the economy grips the world, deals like those won't be happening anytime soon. Concert promoters have stopped pursing big "360" deals like the Jay's Live Nation deal last year. "Those deals are pretty much done for now," Chris White, an entertainment analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, told Forbes. Last year, the top 20 Hip-Hop Cash Kings made $500 million; this year they made $300 million, a 40% drop. The rest of Hip-Hop's Cash Kings 2009 list is as follows: 2 - Diddy - $30 million 3 - Kanye West - $25 million 4 - 50 Cent - $20 million 5 - Akon - $20 million 6 - Lil Wayne - $18 million 7 - Timbaland - $17 million 8 - Pharrell Williams - $15 million 9 - T-Pain - $15 million 10 - Eminem - $14 million 11 - Dr. Dre - $13 million 12 - Snoop Dogg - $11 million 13 - Ludacris - $10 million 14 - Swizz Beatz - $8 million 15 - T.I. - $8 million ---- Will.i.am - $8 million ---- Common - $8 million 18 - Big Boi - $7 million ---- Andre 3000 - $7 million 20 - Flo Rida - $6 million ---- Rick Ross - $6 million ---- The Game - $6 million ---- Young Jeezy - $6 million