American business magazine, Forbes Magazine, has released a compilation of its top10 African richest musicians.
African entertainers like, Jidenna, Akon, Wizkid, Tinashe, Davido, Don Jazzy and Sarkodie, made itto the list.
Forbes Africa list wasput together using factors such as endorsement value, popularity, show rates, sales, awards, YouTube views, appearance in newspapers, investment, social media presence, Influence and others.Here's the list of the artistes that made it;
1. AKON - Akon has over 35 million albums sold worldwide. He has won numerous awards including fiveGrammy Award nominations and has45 Billboard Hot 100 songs under his belt. He tops the list according to Forbes Africa.
2. BLACK COFFEE, SOUTH AFRICA - The multi-award-winning artist’s real name is Nkosinathi Maphumulo. He was born in South Africa’shouse music province, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and raised in the Eastern Cape province, whereNelson Mandela hailed from, before moving back to KZN to study music.
3. HUGH MASEKELA, SOUTH AFRICA - Hugh was born in Witbank, east of Johannesburg. He has released more than 43 albums and performed with Marvin Gaye, Dizzy Gillespie, The Byrds, Fela Kuti, Paul Simon,Stevie Wonder and Miriam Makeba.
4. DON JAZZY, - NIGERIA Don Jazzy is ranked fourth richest in Africa and also first inNigeria. Like many artists, his real name is Michael Collins Ajereh, and he started playing musicas a child in church before moving to the UK to pursue his career.
5. TINASHE, ZIMBABWE-AMERICAN - Tinashe was a child model by the age of three. The twenty-four-year-old sang before she could talk and made her first appearance in 2000 in the film Cora Unashamed. Her voice also starred in the cartoon feature film The Polar Express alongside Oscar-winning actor, Tom Hanks.
6. JIDENNA, NIGERIAN-AMERICAN,- By the age of 10, Jidenna Theodore Mobisson knew he wanted to do music but was afraid to tell his father who wanted him to be an engineer. He is ranked sixth according to Forbes Africa.
7. WIZKID, NIGERIA - Wizkid is arguably currently the uncrowned king of African music. Grammy Award-winning artist, Alicia Keys and husband Swizz Beatz, danced to his songs Ojuelegba and Caro, with Keys posting a video on her Instagram account with the caption, “This song makes mehappy”. Kylie Jenner also posted a video of herself dancing to Wizkid’s music on Snapchat.
8. DAVIDO, - NIGERIA Davido has claimed ahigh status in just five years. He said it was people like P-Square and D’Banj who made him believe this was possible. He became famous for his widelyacclaimed 2012 debut album “Omo Baba Olowo”.
9. SARKODIE, GHANA - Michael Owusu Addostarted out as an underground rapper and through the help of Duncan Williams, his former manager, his career was launched. Staying true to his identity, heis a big advocate of Azonto, a Ghanaian genre that is said to have been born out of Kpanlogo, a traditional dance.His first single off his fourth album, Mewu, sold almost 4,000 copies on the first day of its release in Ghana. He was also the first Ghanaian to win a BET award.
10. OLIVER MTUKUDZI, ZIMBABWE - Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi has 65 albums underhis belt, more than the legendary Michael Jackson andWhitney Houston.
It’sa remarkable career stretching back 41 years with songs thathave enlivened parties all over the world. He his ranked 10th richest musician in Africa.
