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Forbes' 2010 "Hip-Hop Cash Kings" List, With Musical Accompaniment
You might not know it from the way that they dress or the kinds of cars they drive, but some rap music artists make a very respectable living. Forbes magazine, in fact, has made an annual tradition out of their listing the biggest earners in the field. This year's edition came out this week. But it's important to remember that these artists also make music. So here's Forbes' list, augmented by each of these very wealthy individual's best recorded musical performance.
1) Jay-Z
2) Diddy
3) Akon
4) Lil Wayne
5) Dr. Dre
6) Ludacris
7) Snoop Dogg
8) Timbaland
9) Pharrell Williams
10) Kanye West
11) Drake
12) T.I.
13) Swizz Beatz
14) Eminem
15) 50 Cent
16) Young Jeezy
17) Common
18) Soulja Boy
19) T-Pain
20) Lil Jon
21) Gucci Mane
22) Rick Ross
I would go differently with…
Weezy F. Baby – 'A Milli'
Ludacris – 'Stand Up'
Timbaland – 'Big Pimpin', 'Dirt Of Your Shoulder', 'Are You That Somebody', 'Get Your Freak On'?
Pharrell – 'Frontin' or 'I Just Wanna Luv U'
Swizzy – 'Bring'm Out'
Provocateur!
I'm with Cho on the Pharrell picks. And, while I respect the nod to the underappreciated Ginuwine and his pony (ride it!), those Aaliyah and Missy tracks were better.
As for Common… come on. He was best when he was Common Sense.
Good choices, too. It was tough. I never liked Swizz Beatz bells-and-whistles stuff so much. The track of his I had a hard time opting against was Beyonce's "Check Up On It."
And, yes, I think "Are You That Somebody" is probably the song Timbaland should be most remembered for. Most important, and representative of his sound, etc. (Also maybe Missy's "The Rain.") But I just love "Pony" so much. I could listen to that beat for like three hours straight and not get tired of it.
It is hilarious that Rick Ross cannot Blow Money nearly as Fast as Common apparently can, ha ha ha ha.
Also I think "Pony" was the correct choice.