If nothing else Jay-Z’s new album “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” is, if not a creative triumph, a furthering of Jay-Z’s many business triumphs. Selling a million copies to Samsung before it even went on sale officially is an unprecedented co-branding move, and impressive way of creatively making money from a product that’s been brutally devalued as a commodity over the last 15 years.
Given that it’s so hard to make money in music, the multi-millions touted constantly in rap verses seem kind of incredible. Businessweek took note of Jay-Z’s lyric from his new album: “The truth in my verses, versus, your metaphors about what your net worth is” and decided to crunch the numbers using Forbes’ celeb-tracking data to calculate the difference what rappers say they’re worth and what they’re actually worth. Jay-Z fibs a bit, but not nearly as much as some of these guys:
1. Pitbull
Said: He makes “billions.”
Actually: Made $9.5 million last year
Lying by: Billions
2. Nicki Minaj
Said: She made “a billi”
Actually: Made $15.5 million in 2012
Lying by: Almost a billion
3. Diddy
Said: He’s “worth about a billion”
Actually: Worth $580 million
Lying by: $420 million
4. Nas
Said: “Worth two hundred million now”
Actually: Owed the IRS $6 million last year
Lying by: $206 million
5. 50 Cent
Said: “Make another hundred million”
Actually: Made $7.5 million last year
Lying by: $92,500,000
6. Lil Wayne
Said: “Last year I made a hundred million dollars flat.” (2010)
Actually: Made $20 million in 2010
Lying by: $80 million
7. Birdman
Said: “Hundred million dollars, the fire flame splitter”
Actually: Worth $150 million in Forbes‘ 2013 list, so unless he made $50 million in the last the years, he was low-balling it.
Lying by: Somewhere around $50 million
8. Jay-Z
Said: He’s got “half a billi”
Actually: Worth $475 million
Lying by: $25 million
Source: deathandtaxesmag
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