Below are the Richest African Musicians 2017 as released by Forbes Africa. These Top 10 Richest African Musicians were selected based on various criteria such as endorsement value, popularity, show rates, sales.
Others include: awards, YouTube views, appearance in newspapers, investment, social media presence, Influence etc.
Forbes Africa’s Top 10 Richest African Musicians
Check out the complete list of 2017 Richest African Musicians.
1. AKON, SENEGAL
With over 35 million albums sold worldwide, and numerous awards won which include five Grammy Award nominations and has 45 Billboard Hot 100 songs under his belt. Akon tops the list, making him the Richest African Musicians, according to Forbes Africa.
2. BLACK COFFEE, SOUTH AFRICA
Nkosinathi Maphumulo popularly know as Black Coffee is a multi-award winning singer. Black Coffee hails from house music province, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and was raised in the Eastern Cape province, where place Nelson Mandela hailed from.
3. HUGH MASEKELA, SOUTH AFRICA
Hugh was born in Witbank, east of Johannesburg. So, far, Hugh has released over 43 albums and has also performed with Marvin Gaye, Dizzy Gillespie, The Byrds, Fela Kuti, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Miriam Makeba.
4. DON JAZZY, NIGERIA
Michael Collins Ajereh, popularly kown as Don Jazzy ranked fourth on the list of richest musicians in Africa and as well the first in Nigeria. The music producer, and Mavins boss started playing music as a child in church before he went to the United Kingdom to pursue his career.
5. TINASHE, ZIMBABWEAN-AMERICAN
Tinashe who started singing almost at the same time she could speak made her debut in 2000 in the film ‘Cora Unashamed’. Also, she did a voice record over in the cartoon feature film “The Polar Express” alongside Oscar-winning actor, Tom Hanks.
Richest African Musicians 2017
6. JIDENNA, NIGERIAN-AMERICAN
Jidenna Theodore Mobisson, ranked as the sixth on the list. He wanted to purue his career to be an Engineer, but he always had a passion for music.
7. WIZKID, NIGERIA
On the list comes Wizkid as the seventh Richest African Musicians. Wizkid is unarguably the uncrowned king of African music. His music blows to the Western world, which made Grammy Award-winning artist, Alicia Keys and husband, Swizz Beatz, danced to his songs ‘Ojuelegba’ and ‘Caro’.
8. DAVIDO, NIGERIA
Davido became famous for his widely acclaimed 2012 debut album “Omo Baba Olowo”. According to him, he said it was people like P-Square and D’Banj who made him believe this was possible. He occures the eight position on the list.
9. SARKODIE, GHANA
Michael Owusu Addo was the first Ghanaian to win a BET award. His first single off his fourth album, Mewu, sold almost 4,000 copies on the first day of its release in Ghana. He is a big advocate of Azonto, a Ghanaian genre which is said to have been born out of Kpanlogo, a traditional dance.
10. OLIVER MTUKUDZI, ZIMBABWE
Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi has recorded not less than 65 albums. He surpasses the likes of legendary Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. With his 41 years of his career, his songs have enlivened parties all over the world. Currently, he ranked the 10th richest musician in Africa.
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