Cash Kings 2011: Hip-Hop’s Top 10 Earners

the Empire State of Mind rapper is hip-hop’s top earner with $37 million in the past 12 months, claiming his fourth Cash Kings crown in five years;

second-ranked Diddy—who raked in $35 million, roughly half of that total coming from a lucrative partnership with Diageo’s Ciroc vodka—but handily topped West, who earned $16 million.

In Pictures: The Top 20 Hip-Hop Cash Kings

• ^$37m Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter
• ^$35m Sean “Diddy” Combs
• ^$16m Kanye West
• ^$15m Dwayne “Lil Wayne” Carter
• ^$15m Bryan “Birdman” Williams
• ^$14m Marshall “Eminem” Mathers
• ^$14m Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus
• ^$14m Andre “Dr. Dre” Young
• ^$13m Aliuane “Akon” Thiam 
• source :FORBES MAGAZINE.