Take That! Take That! Diddy Tops Forbes "Cash Kings" List

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Ciroc isn’t only getting you tipsy, it’s actually the blame for Diddy topping Forbes ‘2016 Cash Kings’ list, again!

According to Forbes, it was definitely Diddy’s liquor brand and other endorsement that help take him to the top, not his music.

“Jay Z ranks second with earnings of $53.5 million. He didn’t play many shows or release a new album during the past 12 months, but continued to cash in on his Roc Nation entertainment company, Armand de Brignac champagne, D’Ussé cognac and other ventures. Dre rounds out the top three with a $41 million haul. It’s been two years since he scored the highest single-year payday in history for any living celebrity–$620 million, mostly from Apple’s AAPL -0.29% $3 billion Beats buyout–but he continues to pocket cash from the deal and from biopic Straight Outta Compton.

Overall, it’s been a banner year for the business of hip-hop. The world’s 20 highest-paid acts pulled in more than $450 million over the past 12 months, the highest total since 2014 and third-highest in the Cash Kings list’s ten-year history. The only two years with a higher aggregate: 2008 and 2014, fueled by nine-figure windfalls for 50 Cent and Dre, respectively.

A new generation is challenging those veteran Cash Kings for financial supremacy, led by the likes of Drake and Wiz Khalifa. The former claims the No. 4 spot with earnings of $38.5 million–fueled by the best music sales of any musician not named Adele–thanks to new album Views. He padded his total with live shows and checks from Apple, Sprite and Nike; more may be on the way with his new Virginia Black whiskey. Khalifa tallied $24 million to earn the No. 5 rank, boosted by 70 shows and a healthy six-figure nightly average gross during our scoring period.

There are even fresher faces on the list: A$AP Rocky (No. 13, $14.5 million) parlayed lucrative live gigs and a growing array of fashion ventures into his Cash Kings debut, while DJ Khaled (No. 12, $15 million) and Swizz Beatz (No. 19, $10.5 million) returned to the list after brief absences. Khaled made a mint on deals with Apple, T-Mobile and Zappos; Swizz inked a multi-year, multimillion dollar deal to become Barcardi’s global creative director.

“We’re challenging all of our brands to get creative and get disruptive,” he told FORBES in a wide-ranging interview touching on his new gig, his recent experiences at Harvard Business School and his vision for the art world. “Let’s not just pay people to hold drinks in their hands.”

Peep Forbes “Cash Kings” top 10 below:

Diddy ($62 million)

Jay-Z ($53.5 million)

Dr. Dre ($41 million)

Drake ($38.5 million)

Wiz Khalifa ($24 million)

Nicki Minaj ($20.5 million)

Pitbull ($20 million)

Pharrell Williams ($19.5 million)

Kendrick Lamar ($18.5 million)

Birdman ($18 million)

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