Eyebrows were raised when Forbes magazine named Dr Dre as the biggest earner in hip-hop this week, despite releasing his last album 13-years-ago. Of course, it's not just his music that has sent Dre straight to the top of the list, which saw him oust Jay Z and P Diddy in the process.
With $110 million in earnings for 2011, Dr Dre blew away the heavyweight competition, raking it in for royalties from 'The Chronic' and '2001', production credits, past projects and, of course, his Beats By Dre headphones. Dr Dre, along with the Interscope chief Jimmy Iovine, have created the most recognisable headphones in the world, and sold half of the company to Htc for $100 million. The hip-hop mogul recently succeeded in gate-crashing the London 2012 Olympics with a shrewd marketing campaign that saw athletes from around the world endorse the headphones range. Dre - whose company was not an official sponsor of the International Olympic Committee - skirted strict rules against advertising by sending athletes complimentary sets. Many of the world's biggest stars were seen warming up in their headphones, and some even Tweeted about receiving them.
Following behind Dr Dre in Forbes' list was P Diddy, with Jay Z raking in $38 million to take third place. Kanye West landed at number four, while Lil Wayne came in at five after making $35 million.