Diddy named Forbes highest paid hip-hop artist for third year in a row

Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Sean 'Diddy' Combs has once again topped Forbes annual highest paid hip-hop artist list for the third year in a row ahead of Drake and Jay-Z.

The list, released Wednesday, has the rap mogul taking in $130 million for 2017 due to his various business ventures with Ciroc vodka, DeLeon tequila and Aquahydrate along with proceeds made from his Bad Boy Reunion Tour and for selling a portion of his Sean John clothing line for an estimated $70 million.

"I've always understood that if I give the customers my best and service them differently, whether music, clothing or vodka, I'll get a return on my hard work," Diddy said while speaking with Forbes.

Diddy topped the list in 2016 with $62 million and then $60 million in 2015. Were it not for Dr. Dre's big Beats payday when the headphone brand was sold to Apple, Diddy would be celebrating his fifth consecutive No. 1 win.

Drake comes in at second place having earned $94 million due to his Boy Meets World Tour, music releases such as Views and More Life and deals with brands such as Apple, Sprint and Nike.

In third is Jay-Z with $42 million followed by Dr. Dre with $34.5 million and Chance the Rapper with $33 million to round out the top five.

Collectively, the Top 20 list, which includes hip-hop heavyweights such as Kendrick Lamar ($30 million), Pitbull ($27 million), DJ Khaled ($24 million), Kanye West ($22 million), Snoop Dogg ($16.5 million), Nicki Minaj ($16 million), Lil Wayne ($15.5 million) and newcomer Lil Yachty ($11 million), have earned a grand total of $619.5 million -- which is up 38 percent more then last year's collective total of $448.5 million.