For a genre that’s constantly reinventing itself, the list of hip-hop’s wealthiest acts has stayed relatively static over the years–until 2017, when Sprint’s investment in Tidal pushed Jay-Z ahead of Dr. Dre and into the No. 2 spot at $810 million, just $10 million behind longtime king Diddy.
The 2018 ranking is almost upon us, and there’s sure to be more shuffling of the top five. Will we see hip-hop’s first billionaire this year? Can Diddy hang onto his crown? What of relative newcomers like Drake, who made his debut on the list last year? Will another rapper boot Birdman from his perch? Tune in right here on Thursday, March 1st, to find out.
As usual, there will be an incentive for the most accurate prognosticators: correctly predict the five names on this year’s list in order, and you’ll win a signed copy of my new book, 3 Kings: Diddy, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z and Hip-Hop’s Multibillion-Dollar Rise (due out March 6, available in your favorite bookstore and online). Leave your picks in the comments field here, along with an email address or social handle where you can be contacted, or send them to me on Twitter.
And be aware that the members of the Forbes Five–particularly the aforementioned three–serve as business-minded role models not only to aspiring entrepreneurs, but to the next generation of rap luminaries.
“[People] said we couldn’t start businesses outside of hip-hop,” Kendrick Lamar told me last year. “These are the three individuals who showed us how.”
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