The 45 year old, from Harlem, New York, made an estimated $60 million between June 2014 and June 2015, from investments outside of music, such as his TV network Revolt and Ciroc vodka, the publication calculated.
Runner up Jay Z, also 45, earned an estimated $56 million from business ventures in music, sports and lifestyle. His wife and singer Beyonce, also helped boost his earnings, Forbes said.
Drake, 28, came in at No. 3 with $39.5 million, the bulk of which came from touring, as well as high profile endorsements from Sprite and Nike.
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Dr. Dre, 50, who remains the highest annual payday of any musician ever, due to Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of his Beats, it’s something of a surprise that he ranks No. 4 with $33 million.
Coming at number 5, is Pharrell Williams, 42, making an estimated $32 million, with majority of his earnings emanating from touring, music, his role as a judge on The Voice and his clothing lines.
Nicki Minaj was the only woman to crack into the top ten of the highest paid hip hop acts, coming in at No. 9 with $21 million from touring and endorsements.
Forbes calculated its list using pre-tax income figures from factors such as record sales, touring, streaming and endorsements using data from Nielsen SoundScan, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and interviews with managers, lawyers and in some cases, the artists themselves.
See the full list below
1. Diddy- $60m
2.Jay Z- $56m
3.Drake- $39.5m
4 Dr. Dre-$33m
5 Pharrell- $32m
6.Eminem- $31m
7 Kanye West- $22m
8 Wiz Khalifa- $21.5m
9 Nicki Minaj- $21m
10 Birdman- $18m11 Pitbull- $17m
12 Lil Wayne- $15m
13-Kendrick Lamar- $12m
14 J Cole- $11m
15 Snoop Dogg- $10m
16 Rick Ross- $9m
17- Tech N9ne- $8.5m
18 Ludacris- $8m
19-T.I. – $6m
20-Macklemore & Ryan Lewis- $5.5m