Hip-Hip has been good to those artists that have managed their careers as a business.  Many artists focus on having a good time and dismiss the business part of the process until it is too late.  This recent list by Forbes is a great example of Top Hip-Hop artists that kept their careers in balance.  In the coming years, it would not be surprising if one of these artists wrote a top selling business book.

Here are the Top 5 Earning Hip-Hop / Rap Artists of 2012:

1.    Sean “Diddy” Combs – $550 Million

-         Multiple sources of income like music, Ciroc vodka and clothing

2.    Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter - $460 Million

-         Reportedly earned $204 Million from Rocawear and $150 Million from LiveNation

3.    Andre “Dr. Dre” Young - $260 Million

-         Reportedly earned $300 Million from his part in Beats Electronics

4.    Bryan “Birdman” Williams - $125 Million

-         Cofounder of Cash Money Records supporting artists like Lil Wayne and Nikki Minaj

5.    Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson - $110 Million

-         Reportedly made over $100 Million from Vitamin water

Which artist do you think will be next on this list?

Tags: Top 10, Top 5, Rap, Hip-Hop, music, artist, wealth, money, cash, diddy, jayz, 50 cent, ciroc, rocawear, dr dre, beats, boombox

 If you live in the one of the states in this Top 5 List, does it make you a miserable person? According to the folks at 24/7 Wall Street and based on health and work environment, they compiled the five most miserable states in which to live.  Is there any wonder that Hawaii maintains its spot as the best place to live? Here are the 5 most miserable states that you can call home:

1. West Virginia 

·         Life expectancy: 75.2 (2nd lowest)

·         Obesity: 32.5 percent (2nd highest)

·         Median household income: $38,218 (2nd lowest)

·         Adult population with high school diploma or higher: 83.2 percent (8th lowest)

 

2. Kentucky 

·         Life expectancy: 76.2 (7th lowest)

·         Obesity: 31.3 percent (5th highest)

·         Median household income: $40,062 (4th lowest)

·         Adult population with high school diploma or higher: 81.9 percent (5th lowest)

 

3. Mississippi 

·         Life expectancy: 74.8 (the lowest)

·         Obesity: 34.0 percent (the highest)

·         Median household income: $36,851 (the lowest)

·         Adult population with high school diploma or higher: 81.0 percent (3rd lowest)

 

4. Delaware 

·         Life expectancy: 78.3 (23rd lowest)

·         Obesity: 28.0 percent  (20th highest)

·         Median household income: $55,847 (10th highest)

·         Adult population with high school diploma or higher: 87.7 percent (24th lowest)

 

5. Ohio 

·         Life expectancy: 77.5 (13th lowest)

·         Obesity: 29.2 percent (16th highest)

·         Median household income: $45,090 (17th lowest)

·         Adult population with high school diploma or higher: 88.1 percent (24th highest)

 

How do you feel about your home state?

 

See the full article at 24-7 Wall Street 

Tags: Top 5, list, rank, most, miserable, state, worst, hate, west virginia, ohio, delaware, kentucky, mississippi, faslist, hot, life, death, states, united states

Which NBA players are ranked in the Top 10 list of most efficient according through the half way point of the season?  Carmelo Anthony’s trade to the New York Knicks has been the lead topic for a few weeks.  How does Carmelo rank on this list?  How many of these players will be considered to be one of the best NBA players of all time?

1.     Kevin Love, Timberwolves

2.     Dwight Howard, Magic

3.     LeBron James, Heat

4.     Pau Gasol, Lakers

5.     Amar’e Stoudemire, Knicks

6.     Kevin Durant, Thunder

7.     Blake Griffin, Clippers

8.     Zach Randolph, Grizzlies

9.     Dwayne Wade, Heat

10.    Al Horford, Hawks

As for Carmelo Anthony, he ranks 19^th on this list of most efficient NBA players through Feb. 22, 2011.  Check our more stats at NBA stats  

Tags: top 10, top 5, best, most, list, rank, nba, basketball, stats, average, ejection

Which athlete would you put at the top of this list of the most powerful athletes in media and business?  After a strange year, Tiger Woods has fallen from the top spot. The new Top 10 has many familiar faces and few that benefited from the Winter Olympics.  The Top 10 list according to BusinessWeek shows which athletes move the masses.  Check out the list:

1.     Peyton Manning

2.     Shawn White

3.     Tiger Woods

4.     Phil Mickelson

5.     Tom Brady

6.     Shaquille O’Neal

7.     Drew Brees

8.     Lance Armstrong

9.     Albert Pujols

10.  Apolo Anton Ohno

For more details – Check out  MSNBC – Where’s LeBron James? 

Tags: top 10, top 5, best, most, list, rank, nfl, football, team, power, athlete, tiger woods

How safe is your water in your city?  While we may be doing more harm than good with bottled water, here is a list of the Top 10 worst cities and municipalities to drink from the public water fountain according to the EWG (Environmental Working Group).  According to a recent article posted on MSNBC by Daily Finance, there are several cities that having a water purifier may be beneficial in this Top 10 list of worst cities for public drinking water:

1.     Pensacola, Fla. (Emerald Coast Water Utility)

2.     Riverside, Calif. (City of Riverside Public Utilities)

3.     Las Vegas (Las Vegas Valley Water District)

4.     Riverside County, Calif. (Eastern Municipal Water District)

5.     Reno (Truckee Meadows Water Authority)

6.     Houston (City of Houston Public Works)

7.     Omaha (Metropolitan Utilities District)

8.     North Las Vegas (City of North Las Vegas Utilities Department)

9.     San Diego (San Diego Water Department)

10.  Jacksonville, Fla. (JEA)

For more detail check out the full article at MSNBC.  How is your local water?

Tags: top 10, top 5, best, most, list, rank, worst, water, drinking, dirty, public

Which of the Top 10 movies of 2010 according to the Academy will be winner of the Oscar for Best Picture?  As usual, many were not popular favorites but there are several excellent films in this list of the 10 best movies of the 2010. The story of Facebook  was fairly popular.  How many have you seen?  

·        Black Swan

·        The Fighter

·        Inception

·        The Kids Are All Right

·        The Kings Speech

·        127 Hours

·        The Social Network

·        Toy Story 3

·        True Grit

·        Winter's Bone

Which do you believe should be considered the best film of 2010?

Tags: top 10, top 5, best, most, list, rank, movie, oscar, academy, nominated, black swan, inception, 2010

Are you rude to your neighbors and visitors to your fair city?  You may be more obnoxious than you think if live in of the Top 10 rudest cities in the United States.  So the next time you visit the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, realize that you are in the Top 10 rudest cities according to Travel and Leisure magazine.

Here are the Top 10 Rudest Cities in the United States:

1.     Los Angeles – Wouldn’t you be upset if you lived here?

2.     New York City – They are not rude, they just don’t see you

3.     Philadelphia – The city of brotherly love?

4.     Miami – A melting pot of culture and displaced New Yorkers

5.      Washington DC – A city known for deceit

6.     Boston – If the Red Sox don’t win, they can be a bit persnickety

7.     Baltimore – The dirty little brother of DC

8.     Las Vegas – No cash, No Friends – Welcome to Vegas

9.     Orlando – How would like to host millions of Amusement parks

10.  Dallas – A concrete jungle will take its toll on anyone

Which city ranks #1 as your most rude city in the United States? 

Tags: top 10, top 5, best, most, list, rank, rude, city, travel, mean, nyc, las vegas

How did your investments do in 2010? If you invested in one of these Top 10 performing funds of 2010, you should have at least had one very bright spot.  If you are looking for advice and a few tips for 2011, here is a list of financial websites for great tips.  Many say you cannot chase performance but maybe you can learn from the past on this Top 10 list of top performing funds.

Gainers	Total return1
Fund (type)	2010	4th Q
ProShares Ultra Silver (AU)	173.6%	82.5%
iPath ETN DJ- UBS Cotton A (CMD)	98.3%	47.4%
B2B Internet Holdrs Trust (TK)	91.7%	24.3%
PowerShares DB Silver (AU)	82.0%	41.7%
UBS E-TRACS Silver Total Ret. (AU)	79.8%	39.9%
ETFS Physical Silver Shares (AU)	79.7%	38.7%
iShares Silver Trust (AU)	79.4%	38.6%
Dynamic Gold & Prec. Metals I (AU)	73.4%	16.7%
Direxion Mid Cap Bull 3X (DL)	69.8%	41.9%
Direxion Small Cap Bull 3X (DL)	68.4%	53.1%

 

Where will you put your investment funds in 2011?

 

Tags: top 10, top 5, best, list, rank, most, rated, top, stock, fund, investment, 401k, 2010

Are you addicted to Facebook? No, not you. Are you logged on right now?  Thought so. 

This is an outstanding info graphic on the worldwide obsession with Facebook. Enjoy.

Do you use a tool to manage Facebook?

Tags: top 10, top 5, best, most, list, rank, facebook, myspace, addiction, fact, stats, infographic

Do you think TCU could have beaten Auburn in the BCS National Championship game?  Both ended the season undefeated as Auburn defeated Oregon.  We will never know due to the inflexible BCS.  The championship was exciting and was determined by the best college football teams.   But we will always wonder about TCU.  Here are the final USA Today Top 10 rankings of the 2010 season.

Rank	Team (first-place votes)	Record	Points	Last week's ranking
1.	Auburn (56)	14-0	1,424	2
2.	TCU (1)	13-0	1,336	3
3.	Oregon	12-1	1,333	1
4.	Stanford	12-1	1,254	5
5.	Ohio State	12-1	1,197	6
6.	Oklahoma	12-2	1,096	8 (tie)
7.	Boise State	12-1	1,012	10
8. (tie)	LSU	11-2	1,007	12
8. (tie)	Wisconsin	11-2	1,007	4
10.	Oklahoma State	11-2	883	13

Tags: top 10, top 5, best, most, list, rank, nfl, football, team, power, all time, bcs, auburn, championship