Forbes released its list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities of 2019, and Nipsey Hussle is at number 10.
In the United States alone, the late rapper’s music scored 1.85 billion streams over the last year, and unlike most artists he owned the rights to all of his master recordings, which means a much bigger payday for his heirs.
Hussle also earned $11 million in the past 12 months, more than he’s ever made in the years prior to his death. The “Racks in the Middle” rapper made a substantial amount from his partnership with Puma as well, where he signed a deal to endorse the brand and create his own clothing line.
Plus, he earned money from his Marathon Clothing Store, a retail space that he opened in the Hyde Park section of Los Angeles, close to where he grew up.
Tragically, it was in front of that store that Hussle would be gunned down on March 31 at the age of 33. A man named Eric Holder was quickly named as a suspect, and he was arrested just two days later. Holder was then locked up on $7 million bond, and he’s pleaded not guilty.
David Gross, Hussle’s business partner, who helped the rapper buy the store and the strip mall it sits in, said the location will always serve as a symbolic centerpiece for everything Hussle wanted to do.
“The Slauson plaza will always belong to Nip’s family. … It will always be held by them and people close to them,” Gross explained. “[It will be] a starting point of something symbolic of what we wanted to do in a larger scale with other people in other cities.”
Other artists on the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list include Whitney Houston at No. 12, who earned $9.5 million in the last 12 months.
The Florida rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot and killed last year, is at No. 11 with $10 million earned. Prince is the ninth person on the list with $12 million, Bob Marley at No. 5 made $20 million, and Michael Jackson, who made $60 million in the last year, is No. 1 on the list.
