Rapper Jay-Z watches the game between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals on July 23, 2010 at Yankee Stadium

Jay-Z Tops List of World's Richest Rappers

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WNYC Newsroom
WNYC News | Aug 16, 2010

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter is Forbes magazine's richest hip-hop star of 2010. His annual earnings of $63 million is more than double that of the next rapper on the list, Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Carter's money is not just from record sales and concerts. The 40-year-old Brooklyn native raked in cash from producing records for his label Roc-a-Fella, over-seeing his clothing line, Rocawear, and real estate investments, as well as producing Broadway's "Fela!" and his part ownership of the New Jersey Nets.

Jay-Z currently lives in a Tribeca penthouse, where he wed pop-star diva, Beyonce Knowles in 2008.

Besides Jay-Z and rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs ($30 million in earnings), the top 20 list, also includes Aliuane "Akon" Thiam ($21 million), Dwayne "Lil Wayne" Carter ($20 million), Andre "Dr. Dre" Young ($17 million), among others.

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