Which of your favorite hip-hop acts have hauled the most money from touring? From Drake to Lil Wayne, Boardroom breaks down the list of the Top 10 most prolific — and profitable — acts.
Live music is back. With its third-quarter report, Live Nation revealed that it has sold over 140 million tickets thus far in 2023. After an extended pause in the wake of the international pandemic, fans are scooping tickets to see their favorite acts live on stage.
From Drake and 21 Savage’s “It’s All a Blur” Tour to Travis Scott’s “Circus Maximus” experience, there are opportunities to see several of your favorite acts IRL.
However, how do today’s modern moguls compare to their historical hip-hop peers? Boardroom breaks down the highest grossing hip-hop touring acts of all time.
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Top-grossing Touring Hip-hop Artists of All Time: The Top 10
1. Drake
- Career Gross: $472.9 million
- Tickets Sold: 3.9 million
- Shows: 304
- Average Gross per Show: $1.55 million
- Fun fact: On July 28 and 29, Drake became the first artist to net more than $5 million during back-to-back arena shows as part of his “It’s All a Blur” Tour, bringing in $10.064 million over the two-night stint.
2. Jay-Z
- Career Gross (to date): $430.5 million
- Tickets Sold: 7.4 million
- Shows: 402
- Average Gross per Show: $1.07 million
- Fun fact: 2013’s Magna Carta World Tour grossed $31.2 million in profit.
3. Post Malone
- Career Gross: $245.7 million
- Tickets Sold: 3.4 million
- Shows: 225
- Average Gross per Show: $1.09
- Fun fact: Post Malone’s three-night run at O2 Arena in May 2023 sold out the 20,000-seat venue and brought in more than $5 million.
4. Kendrick Lamar
- Career Gross: $164.5 million
- Tickets Sold: 1.7 million
- Shows: 142
- Average Gross per Show: $1.16 million
- Fun fact: Kendrick Lamar and his creative agency, pgLang, announced in Nov. 2023 that they are pairing up with Global Citizen to launch “Move Afrika.” The tour will kick off on Dec. 6 in Kigali, Rwanda.
5. Kanye West
- Career Gross: $161.2 million
- Tickets Sold: 2.3 million
- Shows: 240
- Average Gross per Show: $671K
- Fun fact: 2016’s Saint Pablo Tour brought in $52.8 million across 41 dates; however, the tour was cut short when West was hospitalized in Dec 2016.
6. Eminem
- Career Gross: $151.7
- Tickets Sold: 2.3 million
- Shows: 103
- Average Gross per Show: $1.47 million
- Fun fact: In 2011, Eminem’s “Loud Tour” grossed over $90 million. In a two-night stint at the Sydney Football Stadium, he brought in more than $5 million in revenue a night, totaling $10.4 million.
7. Black Eyed Peas
- Career Gross: $119.4 million
- Tickets Sold: 2 million
- Shows: 193
- Average Gross per Show: $618K
- Fun fact: The Black Eyed Peas hit the road on its first tour with Fergie in support of their album The E.N.D. The international tour included 100 dates.
8. Lil Wayne
- Career Gross: $111.7 million
- Tickets Sold: 2 million
- Shows: 234
- Average Gross per Show: $477K
- Fun fact: Between Dec 2008 and Sept. 2009, Weezy put on 78 shows and emerged as the year’s top-grossing touring hip-hop artist. At the time, the $42 million total took the top spot in history for a rap artist.
9. J. Cole
- Career Gross: $91.1 million
- Tickets Sold: 1.4 million
- Shows: 146
- Average Gross per Show: $623K
- Fun fact: These figures do not include J. Cole and Dreamville’s annual festival. Last year’s edition brought in over 100,000 fans to Raleigh’s Dorthea Dix Park.
10. 50 Cent
- Career Gross: $81.7 million
- Tickets Sold: 1.9 million
- Shows: 174
- Average Gross per Show: $1.55 million40
- Fun fact: In a 2023 interview, 50 Cent revealed that his nightly performance fee has increased tenfold throughout his career. He told Billboard, “I think he [Master P] gave me like $80,000, and now I’m getting like $900,000, $1 million.”
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