Inspiration

So it looks like Ciroc is doing pretty well. With the deterioration of Bad Boy Records, Sean John and Diddy’s recording career it still looks like the greatest self-promoter in hip-hop history was still able to find a way to not only keep himself a float but to wind up in the #1 spot on the Forbes hip-hop list. Jay-Z comes in a close 2nd with $450 million.

The pattern continues with the top spots belonging to the artists that can leverage there recording career the best by venturing into other industries. To be honest I think Diddy and Jay-Z continue to make music because its a great promotional tool for their other business, not because its a money maker. I’m sure they still love making music but more than anything making music is good for keeping them relavent and influential enough to dictate consumer behavior for their other businesses.

Checkout how Forbes tallies up the numbers below:

Forbes Methodology

In order to form the list, we followed the same procedures we use to calculate the list of the world’s billionaires (released today) — valuing current holdings, looking at past earnings, leafing through financial documents and talking to a bevy of analysts, attorneys, managers and other industry players to find the nitty-gritty details. We considered only performers, which is why hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons isn’t on this list.

Though other hip-hop artists including Lil Wayne, Pharrell Williams, Rick Ross and others — not to mention pop sensation Bruno Mars, who penned Travie McCoy’s hit song “Billionaire” — frequently speak of ten-figure desires, we kept our list to five because of the lack of information available on the fortunes under $100 million.