Find Out How Kanye West Made It to the List of Forbes’ Richest Rap Artists

Being in the Kardashian family tree, the American rapper Kanye West probably felt the need to make it to the A-list in his file. If your wife was Kim Kardashian who has a net worth of $350 million, we bet you would feel the pressure too.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian got married in 2014 and they’ve four children together

It seems like he found the right motivation because his name finally appeared in this year’s global lineup of the wealthiest rap artists. Following one of his greatest musical influences Jay-Z who is now an official billionaire, West was able to snatch the fourth spot on the ladder from Canadian rapper Drake.

Kanye West’s Music

West has been experimenting quite a lot with his music style over the past years. His genre constantly develops from soul to baroque pop to electro-funk. His musical approach transitioned to an alternative rock style to techno-pop and his most recent aesthetic, gospel music.

Aside from the success of his nine studio albums, West has widely produced a lot of albums and singles for various of other great musicians. Eight of his nine anthologies made it to the top spot on the Billboard chart. He has taken home twenty-one Grammy Awards and earned the reputation as one of the top-selling musicians of all time.

Adidas Yeezy

Kanye West partnered up with Adidas to launch the clothing line Adidas Yeezy in 2015

But the most substantial impacting factor to his $240 million fortune is his alliance with the sportswear brand Adidas. On February 23, 2015, Kanye West and Adidas joined forces as they collaborated to release the clothing line Adidas Yeezy. Both fanatics of West and Adidas went crazy about the designs, and the line continues to grow even further.

Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z

In 2001, Kanye West co-produced Jay-Z’s album, The Blueprint

He still has a long way to go if he wants to be part of the billionaire’s club where Jay-Z is right now. There’s still Diddy sitting on the 3rd spot with a net worth of $740 million. Puff Daddy is a respectable rap artist, and an outstanding businessperson himself. Just Like West, he also has his own clothing line, Sean John and several endorsement deals with big names.

Meanwhile, Dr. Dre is also very determined to accomplish his 2014 declaration that he is a billionaire. With his $800 million fortune, he may be able to get there any time soon. His partnership with Apple predominantly helped him to reach the second spot, although he may need to be more ambitious if he aims to surpass Jay-Z on the top of the list.

Jay-Z doesn’t need much of an introduction. He and his wife Beyoncé is one of the power couples in the music industry with a combined net worth of approximately $1.4 billion. They make so much money with their music together as well as with smart investments such as buying stocks in Uber.

To the people who say there’s no real money in the music industry, they better think twice because these artists are the living proof that this is not true. Not to mention, this is just for the rap industry alone.