Jay-Z Still Hip-Hop's Cash King, but Beyonce is the Couple's Top Earner

Forbes released its 'Hip-Hop Cash Kings 2010' list Tuesday, reporting that Jay-Z is still the music genre's top earner. The rapper and business mogul, who's real name is Shawn Corey Carter, earned $63 million in the past year. That's a $28 million bump over his 2009 crowning total of $35 million.

Jay-Z's music weren't the only profits that earned 2010's hip-hop Cash King his throne--although his Blueprint 3 tour made up the biggest share of earnings. The world's richest rapper also showed profits from his share of the 40/40 nightclub chain and the New Jersey Nets.

Forbes' Hip-Hop Cash Kings Top 5

Sean "Diddy" Combs comes in second on the 'Hip-Hop Cash Kings 2010' list. Forbes listed his income at $30 million, less than half of Jay-Z's earnings.

Rounding off the top five richest rappers in the past year are; Akon ($21 million), Lil Wayne ($20 million) and Dr. Dre ($17 million).

Diddy, Akon and Dr. Dre showed business acumen by earning from various ventures (clothing lines, labels and headphones). Lil Wayne is the only rapper who didn't see significant profits from a business, but it's still impressive he breached the top five, having been locked up since March.

Beyonce Out-Earns Hip-Hop Cash Kings

Given her penchant for modern woman-empowering anthems, like "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)," "Irreplaceable" and "Independent Women," it should be no surprise that Beyonce Knowles significantly out-earned hubby Jay-Z in the past 12 months. Knowles saw fierce earnings of $86 million, $23 million more than her better half.

In fact, Knowles' earnings for the last year put her at number three on Forbes' 'The World's Top-Earning Musicians' list. Ahead of her were U2, with $130 million, and AC/DC, with $144 million. Jay-Z ranks number six on the list.

Like hip-hop's richest rapper, most of Knowles' earnings came from a concert tour (hers was world, his North American). Forbes reported that Jay-Z grossed over a million per concert date and Beyonce raked in $86 million, from 93 stops. So the Hip-Hop Cash King could lay some kind of claim that his tour was more successful, but 75 large here or there is probably barely a blip on the books of this star-studded power couple.

Sources:

Forbes: Hip-Hop Cash Kings 2010, by Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Forbes: Hip-Hop Cash Kings 2009, by Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Forbes: The World's Top-Earning Musicians