JayZ

Jay-Z Hip-Hop's Top Earner at $35 Million

Filed under: Wealth

You gotta hand it to Jay-Z. Despite taking a 57% pay cut -- down from $82 million in 2008 to $35 million in 2009 -- he's still the Hip-Hop Cash King, according to Forbes. (Cash Queens, aka the women, can be found on their own list, which focuses on all women in music, not just in the hip-hop genre.) Diddy squeaks in as the #2 cash king, with $30 million, and Kanye West is #3 with $25 million. Both of these gents also are down several million from last year.

Many of the artists on the Hip-Hop Cash Kings list earn a good chunk of their income through licensing and endorsements, but gone, at least for as long as the economy is uncertain, are one-time mega deals in the $100 million-plus range. This is what knocked 50 Cent out of first place in 2008 down to #4 this year, with "only" $20 million.

In Pictures: Hip-Hop's 20 Top Earners

Tags: cash kings, CashKings, Forbes, hip hop, hip-hop, HipHop, Jay Z, Jay-Z, JayZ, wealth

Jay-Z Plans J Hotels

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Celebrity Shopping

Jay-Z recently stepped down as the head of Def Jam records, perhaps because he's got a new project, a chain of five-star hotels. Various sources are reporting that he recently paid $66 million for a piece of land in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood in order to create the first of his new J Hotels. Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, already as a clothing line (Rocawear) as well as his own bar chain, the 40/40 Club (he opened the Las Vegas 40/40 Club over New Year's) so this deal seems more secure than some of the others we've seen, such as Nicky Hilton's attempt at the hotel business.

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Tags: chelsea, expire-images:2009-1-2, j hotels, jay z, JayZ, manhattan, new york, shawn carter