Top 10 Richest African Musicians: Nigerians Dominates The List

The list of the top 10 Richest African Musicians for the year of 2017 has been released by the renowned business and financial publication, Forbes Magazine.

Forbes’ list has ranked some of the most popular African acts, based in and out of Africa, such as Akon, Black Coffee, Hugh Masekela, Don Jazzy, Tinashe, Jidenna, Wizkid, Davido, Sarkodie and Oliver Mtukudzi. These artists have been ranked according to their endorsement value, popularity, show rates, sales, awards, YouTube views, appearance in newspapers, investment, social media presence, and influence.

Below are the names of richest African musicians mentioned.

Top 10 Richest African Musicians Right Now

1. AKON

Born: April 16, 1973

Country: Senegal, America

Net Worth: $80 million

Akon is an American musician of Senegalese descent best known for his hit songs; “Locked Up”, “Smack That”, “I Wanna Love You”. He comes in on the list as the richest African musician. Akon has sold over 35 million copies of his albums worldwide with numerous awards to his name including five Grammy Award nominations. He has also had 45 of his songs make the Billboard Hot 100 songs.

2.  BLACK COFFEE

Born: March 11, 1976

Country:  South Africa

Nkosinathi Maphumulo famously known as Black Coffee is a multi-award-winning Disc Jockey and musician born in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). He was, however, raised in Eastern Cape province, where Nelson Mandela hailed from, before moving back to KZN to study music. Black Coffee is arguably the best, but more importantly, the most successful electronic music producer on the continent.

3. HUGH MASEKELA

Born: April 4, 1939

Country: South Africa

Johannesburg born artist, Hugh Masekela, has released more than 43 albums and performed with renowned international artists such as Marvin Gaye, Dizzy Gillespie, The Byrds, Fela Kuti, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Miriam Makeba. With his track record, it is no wonder as to why the trumpeter and composer is largely regarded as the father of South African jazz.

4. DON JAZZY

Born: November 26, 1982

Country: Nigeria

Michael Collins Ajereh, aka, Don Jazzy is ranked the fourth richest African musician in Africa and the first from Nigeria. He started playing music as a child in church before moving to the UK to pursue his career. he later came back to the country and founded the legendary, now defunct, Mo Hits Record with his longtime collaborator, D’banj.

5. TINASHE

Born: February 6, 1993

Country: Zimbabwe, America

Tinashe was a child model by the age of three. She made her first appearance in the film Cora Unashamed in 2000. Her voice also starred in the cartoon feature film The Polar Express alongside Oscar-winning actor, Tom Hanks. She is now more focused on music and has released chart-topping songs as well as collaborated with artists like Chris Brown and Omarion.

6. JIDENNA

Born: May 4, 1985

Country: Nigeria, America

Jidenna Theodore Mobisson was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, U.S.A, to a Nigerian father and a white mother. He is ranked sixth on the list of the richest African musicians. Jidenna is heavily influenced by African music as can be seen in his songs having spent some of his childhood on the African continent.

7. WIZKID

Born: July 6, 1990

Country: Nigeria

Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, aka, 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 Alicia Keys posting a video on her Instagram account with the caption, “This song makes me happy”. Kylie Jenner also posted a video of herself dancing to Wizkid’s music on Snapchat.

8. DAVIDO

Born: November 21, 1992

Country: Nigeria

David Adedeji Adeleke, know officially as Davido, has claimed a high 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 2012 debut album ‘Omo Baba Olowo’ as he continues to release chart-topping songs.

9. SARKODIE

Born: July 10, 1988

Country: Ghana

Michael Owusu Addo started out as an underground rapper and through the help of Duncan Williams, his former manager, his career was launched.

Staying true to his identity, he is 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

Born:  September 22, 1952

Country: Zimbabwe

Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi has released up to 65 albums – more than the legendary Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.

He has had a remarkable career stretching back 41 years with songs that have enlivened parties all over the world. He is ranked 10th on the list of richest African musicians.