Dr Dre tops Forbes cash list thanks to enormous Apple deal

Dr Dre has topped the highest paid acts in hip-hop, thanks to his sale of Beats Audio to Apple earlier this year.

Dre tops Forbes magazine's annual Hip-Hop Cash Kings ranking the most financially successful performers in rap. Apple shelled out $3 billion to acquire Beats Audio, with Dre quick to label himself hip-hops first billionaire. The rapper can count his pretax earnings at $620 million.

Dre's total is the highest annual earnings of any star ever evaluated by Forbes with his total topping the earnings of all 24 other artists on the list combined. DJ Khaled, who comes in at number 20 with $7 million told Forbes, “It’s safe to say headphones is a good business”.

Diddy and Jay Z tie in second place with earnings of $60 million while Drake and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis close the top five with $33 million and $32 million each.

Jay Z can thank his partnership with Dieageo's Ciroc vodka and other ventures for his placing on the second spot with DeLeon tequila, Blue Flame marketing, Sean Jean clothing, and Revolt TV all helping boost his figures.

The entire list with each artist's figures is below:

1. Dr. Dre – $620 million
2. Jay Z – $60 million and Diddy – $60 million
2. Diddy – $60 million
4. Drake – $33 million
5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – $32 million
6. Kanye West – $30 million
7. Birdman – $24 million
8. Lil Wayne – $23 million
9. Pharrell Williams – $22 million
10. Eminem – $18 million
11. Nicki Minaj – $14 million
12. Wiz Khalifa – $13 million
13. Pitbull – $12 million
14. Snoop Dogg – $10 million
15. Kendrick Lamar – $9 million
16. Ludacris – $8 million
16. Tech N9ne – $8 million
16. Swizz Beatz – $8 million
16. 50 Cent – $8 million
20. Rick Ross – $7 million
20. J. Cole – $7 million
20. DJ Khaled – $7 million
20. Lil Jon – $7 million
20. Mac Miller – $7 million