DR. DRE TOPS FORBES LIST OF HIGHEST HIP HOP EARNERS!

Old-school rapper Dr. Dre has topped Forbes’ annual list of hip-hop Cash Kings — but not for his expletive-laced rhymes.

The entertainer-producer-actor pulled in $110 million before taxes in 2011, the bulk of his Benjamins coming from his line of premium headphones — Beats By Dr. Dre.

The Grammy-winning “Let it Ride” rapper raked in $100 million when telephone-handset maker HTC spent $300 million for a 51 percent stake in the headphones company Dre started in 2008.

Dr. Dre, 47, is not the only veteran hip-hopper on the list to bank beaucoup bucks from work outside the music industry.

Runner-up Sean (Diddy) Combs earned $45 million last year, most of it from his share in the profits of Ciroc vodka.

Brooklyn-raised rapper Jay-Z, who became a new father in January, made $38 million in 2011, half of it coming from his stakes in the Brooklyn Nets, Carol’s Daughter cosmetics company and a joint venture with battery giant Duracell.

The top 10 high-rollers on the list pulled in a combined total of $338 million last year.

Kanye West ranked No. 4 by earning $35 million, mostly from his and Jay-Z’s “Watch of Throne” album collaboration and world tour.

Lil Wayne, whose album “Tha Carter IV” soled a million copies the first week it was released, earned $27 million to round out the top five.

Nicki Minaj was the top earning female on the list with $15.5 million, putting her at No. 8 behind Drake ($20.5 million) and her boss, Cash Money Records co-founder Bryan “Birdman” Williams ($20 million).

SOURCE