Dr Dre is hip-hop's highest earner

LOS ANGELES: Producer-rapper Dr Dre has been crowned the Hip Hop Cash King of 2014.

The 49-year-old 'I Need A Doctor' hitmaker earned a whopping $ 620 million thanks to Apple's Beats By Dre buy-out, and that figure is by far the greatest haul for any musician in the past year, according to Forbes.

The substantial earnings were more than the 24 other artists on the list combined.

Rap moguls Jay Z and Sean 'Diddy' Combs tied for second place with $ 60 million each, while Drake is placed fourth with $ 33 million.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis rounded out the top five at five.