Money Moguls

Kanye West

Kanye West is one of the biggest names in the music industry; and for good reason. Since busting onto the scene a few years back, the 30 year old rapper has taken the world by storm. Not only is he a favorite among music aficionados the world over, but he may very well be the top name in the rap industry at this time. This is saying quite a bit considering how many newcomers have been selling albums at a record pace

Kayne West released his first album, College Dropout, in 2004. His next album, Registration, came a year later. And most recently, Graduation was released in 2007. Even though the jury is still out on his last album, it is safe to say that the first two were huge successes. In fact, the two of them combined racked up six Grammy’s. Does it get any better than that? How about $16 Million a year?

After finding out that West’s Graduation album would be released at the same time as 50 Cent’s newest album, the media immediately turned this into a showdown. Since being released on September 11, 2007, Graduation has sold nearly one million copies in one week. What has 50 done, you may ask? Even though he had good sales numbers, during the same span he has only moved 691,000 copies. As you can see, there is no denying that West is at the top of the rap game right now.

In addition to all of his musical contributions, Kanye West is also big into charitable work. In March of 2007, Kanye and his father organized a “Walk for Water” event in order to support World Water Day.

Additionally, Kanye West is also a kingpin in the world of fashion. After a two year break, Kanye has once again taken over the job of being a fashion columnist for Complex Magazine. This alone has shown just how diverse he has become over the years. Even though his music career has taken off, he still finds time to devote to other worthy projects.

As you can imagine, Kanye is one of the best paid musicians in the world. But instead of hoarding all this money, he gives back in the way of charities and politics. This is something that more entertainers should definitely consider doing in the future.

Overall, it is safe to say that Kanye West has changed the rap industry forever. And this is definitely a good thing!