highest grossing hip hop tours

The 12 Highest Grossing Hip-Hop Tours Ever

Have you ever wondered what the highest grossing hip-hop tours to ever happen are? If so, we've got you covered. Hip-Hop has evolved beyond being just a music genre; it is now a full-blown culture, richly endowed with personalities who have left indelible footprints in the sands of time. Touring is a critical component of a successful hip-hop career. It's not just about selling records or scoring digital streams, artists profit from shows through ticket sales, merchandise, VIP meet-and-greet packages, and sometimes even branding deals tied to the tour. To say that a tour is successful is an understatement if it racks up numbers in the millions. Let's dive into the illustrious echelons of hip-hop to discover the 12 highest grossing tours ever, celebrating artists who have mastered the art of captivating audiences worldwide.

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12. 'Travis Scott 's Astroworld – Wish You Were Here Tour'

$$$: $34 Million

Year: 2018-2019

Let's not forget Travis Scott's epic Astroworld - Wish You Were Here Tour . This tour took fans on a wild ride through Travis's psychedelic universe. Featuring a fully functioning roller coaster and wild stage designs, it was a surreal carnival of music, color, and energy. Scott's creativity shone through not just in his music, but in the immersive experience he created, pushing the boundaries of what a hip-hop tour could be.

11. Eminem and Rihanna's 'Monster Tour'

$$$: $36 Million

Length: 6 shows/2 weeks

Kick-starting our list at number 10 is the iconic duo Eminem and Rihanna, whose Monster Tour filled stadiums in just three cities but was a monstrous success nonetheless. The tour had an innovative concept and showcased the extraordinary chemistry between these two artists. Their powerful performances kept audiences enthralled and cash registers ringing.

10. Kendrick Lamar's 'Damn Tour'

Kendrick Lamar's Damn Tour was not just a commercial success but a critical one too. The tour showcased Kendrick's exceptional storytelling ability and his sheer skill as a live performer, reinforcing his standing as one of the genre's greatest artists.

9. Lil Wayne's 'I Am Music' Tour

$$$: $42 Million

Year: 2008-2009

Length: 78 shows

While Lil Wayne's I Am Music Tour ran in the late 2000s, it still holds a spot among the highest grossing hip-hop tours. Wayne's signature style, lyrical prowess, and enigmatic stage presence made this tour an unforgettable one.

8. Jay-Z's '4:44 Tour'

$$$: $48.7 Million

Length: 32 shows

Jay-Z makes another appearance with his 4:44 Tour , which followed the release of his album bearing the same name. The tour showed Jay-Z at his most vulnerable, delivering raw, passionate performances that captivated fans and critics alike.

7. Drake's 'Club Paradise Tour'

Drake's Club Paradise Tour in support of his second studio album was a pivotal moment in his career, cementing his status as a global superstar. Drake's infectious charisma and candid lyrics brought something fresh to the hip-hop scene, and fans were more than willing to pay for the unique experience.

6. Justin Timberlake and Jay Z's 'Legends Of The Summer Tour'

$$$: $68 Million

Length: 14 stadium shows

5. Jay-Z and Kanye West's 'Watch the Throne Tour'

$$$: $75 Million

Year: 2011 - 2012

Length: 57 shows

When two of hip-hop's biggest names join forces, the result is bound to be epic. Watch the Throne Tour offered extravagant performances from Jay-Z and Kanye West , treating fans to a spectacular visual and auditory feast.

4. Drake and Migos' 'Aubrey and The Three Migos Tour'

$$$: $79 Million

Length: 43 shows

Returning to our list, Drake , with rap trio Migos, delivered the Aubrey & The Three Migos Tour, a cultural phenomenon that took over North America. Their energetic performances and dynamic stage chemistry created a memorable experience for all attendees.

3. Drake and Future's 'Summer Sixteen Tour'

$$$: $83 Million

Drake's collaboration with Future on the Summer Sixteen Tour was a resounding success. It was a demonstration of hip-hop's impressive range, with Drake's heartfelt lyricism and Future's trap anthems creating a unique blend. This tour was not just a commercial blockbuster, but also an affirmation of the duo's potent chemistry on and off the stage.

2. Beyoncé's and Jay-Z 'On the Run II Tour'

$$$: $109 Million

Length: 21 shows

1. Jay-Z and Beyoncé's 'On the Run II Tour'

$$$: $253.5 Million

Length: 48 stadium shows

When Jay-Z and Beyoncé team up, they're nothing short of a force of nature. Their On the Run II Tour brought together a perfect blend of hip-hop and R&B, with theatrical performances that left audiences breathless. It’s no surprise this power couple secured such high earnings.

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Here Are Some Of The Highest Grossing Hip-Hop Tours Of All Time

Rap tours — like many other tours — all but came to a standstill during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A report by the Chicago Tribune revealed that the concert industry — long considered a prime income stream for musicians both independent and mainstream — took a $30 billion hit thanks to the coronavirus.

“Pollstar on Friday said the live events industry should have hit a record-setting $12.2 billion this year, but instead it incurred $9.7 billion in losses,” reports the outlet. “Pollstar said the projected $30 billion figure in losses includes ‘unreported events, ancillary revenues, including sponsorships, ticketing, concessions, merch, transportation, restaurants, hotels, and other economic activity tied to the live events.'”

Yet, despite this obvious financial hit, the business of Hip-Hop is still big business. In its early days, rap tours were renegade in their nature — take what you can, hope for the best, and get the money any way you knew how (And it’s to be commended for thriving even when it was a “niche” market). But today’s Hip-Hop tours are money-making machines for all involved, which is why 360 deals are becoming more and more common for new label signees.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 highest-grossing rap tours of all time. Some of the answers may surprise you.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé — On The Run II

Total Gross: $253.5 million

Although she isn’t a Hip-Hop superstar, Beyoncé makes the list because of her Hip-Hop billionaire husband.

Billboard reports that the Knowles-Carter duo knows how to make that money. With more than $250 million in the bank after their “On The Run II” tour, all they can do is add to their billionaire status.

P.S. — even if it wasn’t for the “On The Run II” tour, she’d be on the list of Black artists’ highest-grossing tours.

Drake — Various

Aubrey & The Three Migos Total Gross: $79M (per Forbes)

Summer Sixteen Total Gross: $84.3M (per OkayPlayer)

Club Paradise Total Gross: $40M (per HipHopDX)

With a total net worth of $200 million and a variety of investments that rival some of Wall Street’s most aggressive businessmen, Drake doesn’t need to go on tour to pay his bills. But when he does go on tour, he makes bank. At one point, the Summer Sixteen tour was the top-earning rap tour of all time before Jay-Z and Beyoncé knocked him out of the top spot.

Kanye West — Various

Watch the Throne Total Gross: $75.6M ( per The Fader)

Saint Pablo Total Gross: $52.8M (per Pollstar)

Yeezus Total Gross: $31.8M ( per Pollstar)

Glow in the Dark Total Gross: $30.8M ( per Billboard)

Say what you want about Kanye West, but this is a man who knows how to make money. His genius and creativity most definitely contributed to him becoming a billionaire.

Jay-Z — Various

Legends of the Summer Total Gross: $68.8M (per Fortune)

Magna Carter Total Gross: $31.2M (per CapitalXtra)

Whether he goes on tour with Beyoncé, Kanye West, or by himself, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter is a money-making legend all by himself.

Travis Scott — Astroworld

Astroworld Total Gross: $53.5M (per Forbes)

In 2019, “Astroworld” is was the top-grossing tour, putting more than $53 million in Travis Scott’s pocket.

Lil Wayne — I Am Still Music

I Am Still Music Total Gross: $47M (per MTV)

With a net worth of $170 million, Lil Wayne is another rapper that doesn’t need to go on tour if he doesn’t want to. But his touring record proves that he is, indeed, “still music.”

Kendrick Lamar — Damn

Damn Total Gross: $40.7M ( per Billboard)

Interest in the “To Pimp A Butterfly” rapper has skyrocketed thanks to the Super Bowl halftime show, but Kendrick Lamar has always been about his business.

Bernadette Giacomazzo is the SEO Manager at Blavity, Inc. She is also a NYC-based editor, writer, photographer, and publicist with a career spanning more than two decades in the entertainment industry. Her work has been featured in People, Teen Vogue, BET, HipHopDX, XXL Magazine, The Source, Vibe, The Los Angeles Times, and more. Giacomazzo is also the author of The Uprising Series and is the CEO of G-Force Marketing & Publicity, which has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter and has obtained film, television, radio, and print placements for blue-chip clients all over the world. She will release "In Living Color: A Cultural History" on Rowman & Littlefield Press in February 2023, and "The Golden Girls: A Cultural History" on Rowman & Littlefield Press in August 2023.

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Highest-grossing Touring Hip-hop Artists of All Time

Which of your favorite hip-hop acts have hauled the most money from touring? From Drake to Lil Wayne, Boardroom breaks down the list of the Top 10 most prolific — and profitable — acts.

Live music is back. With its third-quarter report, Live Nation revealed that it has sold over 140 million tickets thus far in 2023. After an extended pause in the wake of the international pandemic, fans are scooping tickets to see their favorite acts live on stage.

From Drake and 21 Savage’s “It’s All a Blur” Tour to Travis Scott’s “Circus Maximus” experience, there are opportunities to see several of your favorite acts IRL.

However, how do today’s modern moguls compare to their historical hip-hop peers? Boardroom breaks down the highest grossing hip-hop touring acts of all time.

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Top-grossing Touring Hip-hop Artists of All Time: The Top 10

• Career Gross: $472.9 million
• Tickets Sold: 3.9 million
• Average Gross per Show: $1.55 million
• Fun fact: On July 28 and 29, Drake became the first artist to net more than $5 million during back-to-back arena shows as part of his “It’s All a Blur” Tour, bringing in $10.064 million over the two-night stint.
• Career Gross (to date): $430.5 million
• Tickets Sold: 7.4 million
• Average Gross per Show: $1.07 million
• Fun fact: 2013’s Magna Carta World Tour grossed $31.2 million in profit.

3. Post Malone

• Career Gross: $245.7 million
• Tickets Sold: 3.4 million
• Average Gross per Show: $1.09
• Fun fact: Post Malone’s three-night run at O2 Arena in May 2023 sold out the 20,000-seat venue and brought in more than $5 million.

4. Kendrick Lamar

• Career Gross: $164.5 million
• Tickets Sold: 1.7 million
• Average Gross per Show: $1.16 million
• Fun fact: Kendrick Lamar and his creative agency, pgLang, announced in Nov. 2023 that they are pairing up with Global Citizen to launch “Move Afrika.” The tour will kick off on Dec. 6 in Kigali, Rwanda.

5. Kanye West

• Career Gross: $161.2 million
• Tickets Sold: 2.3 million
• Average Gross per Show: $671K
• Fun fact: 2016’s Saint Pablo Tour brought in $52.8 million across 41 dates; however, the tour was cut short when West was hospitalized in Dec 2016.
• Career Gross: $151.7
• Average Gross per Show: $1.47 million
• Fun fact: In 2011, Eminem’s “Loud Tour” grossed over $90 million. In a two-night stint at the Sydney Football Stadium, he brought in more than $5 million in revenue a night, totaling $10.4 million.

7. Black Eyed Peas

• Career Gross: $119.4 million
• Tickets Sold: 2 million
• Average Gross per Show: $618K
• Fun fact: The Black Eyed Peas hit the road on its first tour with Fergie in support of their album The E.N.D. The international tour included 100 dates.

8. Lil Wayne

• Career Gross: $111.7 million
• Average Gross per Show: $477K
• Fun fact: Between Dec 2008 and Sept. 2009, Weezy put on 78 shows and emerged as the year’s top-grossing touring hip-hop artist. At the time, the $42 million total took the top spot in history for a rap artist.

• Career Gross: $91.1 million
• Tickets Sold: 1.4 million
• Average Gross per Show: $623K
• Fun fact: These figures do not include J. Cole and Dreamville’s annual festival. Last year’s edition brought in over 100,000 fans to Raleigh’s Dorthea Dix Park.

10. 50 Cent

• Career Gross: $81.7 million
• Tickets Sold: 1.9 million
• Average Gross per Show: $1.55 million40
• Fun fact: In a 2023 interview , 50 Cent revealed that his nightly performance fee has increased tenfold throughout his career. He told Billboard, “I think he [Master P] gave me like $80,000, and now I’m getting like $900,000, $1 million.”

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The 20 greatest hip-hop tours of all time

Our ranking, inspired by all the great rap acts on the road this summer, is 100% correct

L ook around and it might feel like we’re in a golden age of rap tours.

Rhyme greats De La Soul recently finished a European tour billed The Gods of Rap with the legendary Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan and Gang Starr’s DJ Premier. And the summer concert season is set to feature even more high-profile hip-hop shows.

West Coast giant Snoop Dogg is headlining the Masters of Ceremony tour with such heavyweights as 50 Cent, DMX, Ludacris and The Lox. Lil Wayne is doing a string of solo gigs and will launch a 38-city tour with pop punk heroes blink-182 starting June 27. Stoner rap fave Wiz Khalifa will headline a 29-city trek on July 9. The reunited Wu-Tang Clan continue their well-received 36 Chambers 25th Anniversary Celebration Tour, and Cardi B will be barnstorming through the beginning of August.

With all this rap talent on the road, The Undefeated decided to take a crack at ranking the 20 greatest hip-hop tours of all time.

Our list was compiled using several rules: First and foremost, the headliners for every tour must be from the hip-hop/rap genre. That means huge record-breaking, co-headlining live runs such as Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s On the Run II Tour were not included, given Queen Bey’s rhythm and blues/pop leanings. We also took into account the cultural and historical impact of each tour. Several artists, ranging from Run-DMC and Salt-N-Pepa to MC Hammer and Nicki Minaj, were included because they broke new ground, beyond how much their tours grossed. For years, hip-hop has battled the perception that it doesn’t translate well to live performance. This list challenges such myopic ideas.

With only 20 spots, some of rap’s most storied live gigs had to be left off the list. Many were casualties of overlap, such as Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys’ memorable 1987 Together Forever Tour and the Sizzling Summer Tour ’90, which featured Public Enemy, Heavy D & the Boyz, Kid ’n Play, Digital Underground and Queen Latifah. The 12-date Lyricist Lounge Tour, a 1998 showcase that featured Big Punisher, The Roots, De La Soul, Black Star, Common, Black Moon’s Buckshot and Fat Joe, also just missed the cut.

You may notice that Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. are missing from the list. But this was no momentary lapse of sanity. ’Pac’s and Biggie’s brief runs took place when rap shows were beginning to become a rarity, leaving most of their memorable stage moments to one-off shows. Dirty South royalty Outkast’s strongest live outing, when Big Boi and Andre 3000 reunited in 2014, was not included because it was less of a tour and more of a savvy festival run.

There are other honorable mentions: Def Jam Survival of the Illest Tour (1998), which featured DMX, the Def Squad, Foxy Brown, Onyx and Cormeg a; the Ruff Ryders/Cash Money Tour (2000); Anger Management 3 Tour with Eminem and 50 Cent (2005); J. Cole’s Dollar & A Dream Tour (2013); and Drake’s Aubrey & The Three Migos LIVE! tour (2018).

With that said, on with the show!

20. Pinkprint Tour (2015)

Nicki Minaj, featuring Meek Mill, Rae Sremmurd, Tinashe and Dej Loaf

The most lucrative hip-hop trek headlined by a woman also served as the coronation of Nicki Minaj as hip-hop’s newest queen. What made The Pinkprint Tour such a gloriously over-the-top affair was its seamless balance of dramatic Broadway-like theater, silly high jinks and a flex of artistic ferocity. One moment Minaj was in a black lace dress covering her eyes while mourning the loss of a turbulent union during “The Crying Game.” The next, she was backing up her memorable appearance on Kanye West’s “Monster” as the most wig-snatching guest verse of that decade. And the Barbz went wild.

Gross : $22 million from 38 shows

Kendrick Lamar performs during the Festival d’ete de Quebec on Friday, July 7, 2017, in Quebec City, Canada.

Amy Harris/Invision/AP

19. The Damn. Tour (2017-18)

Kendrick Lamar, featuring Travis Scott, DRAM and YG

When you have dropped two of the most critically lauded albums of your era in Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012) and To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), there’s already an embarrassment of riches to pull from for any live setting. But Kendrick Lamar understood that to live up to his bold “greatest rapper alive” proclamation he also needed populist anthems to turn on the masses. The Damn. album and world tour presented just that, as he led his followers each night in an elevating rap-along. It kicked off with a martial arts film, a cheeky nod to Lamar’s Kung Fu Kenny alter ego, before launching into the chest-beating “DNA.”

Gross: More than $62.7 million from 62 shows

Drake and Future performing on stage during The Summer Sixteen Tour at AmericanAirlines Arena on Aug. 30, 2016 in Miami.

Getty Images

18. Summer Sixteen Tour (2016)

Drake and Future

This mammoth, co-headlining tour was a no-brainer: Drake, the hit-making heartthrob, Canada’s clap-back native son and part-time goofy Toronto Raptors superfan. And Future, the self-anointed Atlanta Trap King, gleeful nihilist and producer, whose slapping, codeine-addled bars made him a controversial figure on and off record. The magic of this yin/yang pairing shined brightest when they teamed up to perform such tracks as “Jumpman” and “Big Rings” off their industry-shaking 2015 mixtape What a Time to Be Alive . When the smoke settled, Drake and Future walked away with the highest-earning hip-hop tour of all time.

Gross : $84.3 million from 54 shows

From left to right, Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton, DJ Spinderella and Cheryl ‘Salt’ James perform on stage.

17. Salt-N-Pepa Tour (1988)

Featuring Keith Sweat, Heavy D & the Boyz, EU, Johnny Kemp, Full Force, Kid ’n Play and Rob Base

It may seem preposterous in this outspoken, girl-power age of Cardi B, Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, Kash Doll, Young M.A, Tierra Whack and City Girls, but back in the early ’80s, the thought of a “female” rhyme group anchoring a massive tour seemed out of reach. That was before the 1986 debut of Salt-N-Pepa, the pioneering group who’s racked up a plethora of groundbreaking moments and sold more than 15 million albums. The first female rap act to go platinum ( Hot, Cool & Vicious ) and score a Top 20 hit on the Billboard 200 (“Push It”), Salt-N-Pepa led a diverse, arena-hopping showcase that gave the middle finger to any misogynistic notions. And Salt, Pepa and DJ Spinderella continue to be road warriors. They’re currently on New Kids on the Block’s arena-packing Mixtape Tour.

Encore: Opening-act standouts Heavy D & the Boyz would co-headline their own tour the following year off the platinum success of their 1989 masterpiece Big Tyme .

16. Glow in the Dark Tour (2008)

Kanye West, featuring Rihanna, N.E.R.D, Nas, Lupe Fiasco and Santigold

Yes, Kanye West has had more ambitious showings (2013-14’s button-pushing Yeezus Tour) and more aesthetically adventurous gigs (the 2016 Saint Pablo Tour featured a floating stage, which hovered above the audience). But never has the Chicago-born visionary sounded so hungry, focused and optimistic than he did on his first big solo excursion, the Glow in the Dark Tour.

Before the Kardashian reality-show level freak-outs and MAGA hat obsessing, West was just a kid who wanted to share his spacey sci-fi dreamscape with the public, complete with a talking computerized spaceship named Jane. Even the rotating opening acts — topped off by the coolest pop star on the planet, Rihanna — were ridiculously talented.

Gross : $30.8 million from 49 shows

15. I Am Music Tour (2008-09)

Lil Wayne, featuring T-Pain and Keyshia Cole

Between 2002 and 2007, Young Money general Lil Wayne was hip-hop’s hardest-working force of nature, releasing an astounding 16 mixtapes. Then Weezy broke from the pack with the massively successful I Am Music Tour. The bulk of Lil Wayne’s 90-minute set was propelled by his career-defining 2008 album Tha Carter III , which by the show’s second leg had already sold 2 million copies. By the time T-Pain joined the New Orleans spitter for a playful battle of the featured acts, Lil Wayne’s takeover was complete.

Gross : $42 million from 78 shows

MC Hammer, performing on stage in 1990, had a large entourage for his Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em Tour.

14. Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em Tour (1990-91)

MC Hammer, featuring En Vogue and Vanilla Ice

With 15 background dancers, 12 singers, seven musicians, two DJs, eight security men, three valets and a private Boeing 727 plane, MC Hammer’s world tour was eye-popping. Rap fans had never seen anything of the magnitude of the Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em stadium gigs, which recalled Parliament-Funkadelic’s army-size traveling heyday in the 1970s.

Each night the Oakland, California, dancing machine, born Stanley Burrell, left pools of sweat onstage as if he was the second coming of James Brown. If the sight of more than 30 folks onstage doing the Running Man, with MC Hammer breaking into his signature typewriter dance during “U Can’t Touch This,” didn’t make you get up, you should have checked your pulse.

Gross : $26.3 million from 138 shows

13. Things Fall Apart! Tour (1999)

Each gig was a revelation. This was no surprise given that Philadelphia hip-hop collective The Roots, formed by longtime friends drummer Questlove and lead lyricist Black Thought, had a reputation for being unpredictable. Still, it’s ironic that a group known for being the ultimate road warriors — they were known for touring 45 weeks a year before becoming the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2014 — is represented on this list by one of their shortest tours.

But the brilliant Things Fall Apart club and hall sprint, which took place throughout March 1999, proved to be an epic blitz fueled by the band’s most commercially lauded material to date, Questlove’s steady percussive heart and the inhuman breath control of Black Thought.

Encore: Neo soul diva Jill Scott, who co-wrote The Roots’ breakout single “You Got Me,” gave fans an early taste of her artistry as she joined the band onstage for some serious vocal workouts.

12. House of Blues’ Smokin’ Grooves Tour (1996)

The Fugees, Cypress Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Ziggy Marley and Spearhead

While gangsta rap was topping the charts, the hip-hop industry faced a bleak situation on the touring front. Concert promoters were scared to book “urban” acts in large venues. Enter the House of Blues’ Kevin Morrow and Cara Lewis, the booking agent who achieved mythic status when she received a shout-out on Eric B. & Rakim’s 1987 anthem “Paid in Full.” The pair envisioned a Lollapalooza-like tour heavy on hip-hop and good vibes. The first ’96 incarnation came out of the gate with Haitian-American rap trio The Fugees, multiplatinum weed ambassadors Cypress Hill, A Tribe Called Quest and Busta Rhymes.

Encore: The series, which has also featured Outkast, The Roots, Lauryn Hill, Gang Starr, The Pharcyde, Foxy Brown and Public Enemy, is credited with opening the door for a return to more straight-ahead hip-hop tours led by Jay-Z, DMX and Dr. Dre.

Kanye West (left) and Jay-Z (right) perform in concert during the Watch The Throne Tour, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011, in East Rutherford, N.J.

11. Watch the Throne Tour (2011-12)

Jay-Z and Kanye West

In better times, Jay-Z and Kanye West exhibited lofty friendship goals we could all aspire to, with their bromance popping on the platinum album Watch the Throne. Before their much-publicized fallout, Jay-Z and West took their act on the road for the mother of all double-bill spectacles.

Two of hip-hop’s greatest traded classics such as the ominous “Where I’m From” (Jay-Z) and soaring “Jesus Walks” (West) from separate stages on opposite sides of the venue. Those lucky enough to catch the tour can still recall the dream tag team launching into their encore of “N—as in Paris” amid roars from thousands of revelers.

Gross : $75.6 million from 63 shows

10. The Miseducation Tour (1999)

Lauryn Hill, featuring Outkast

In 1998, Lauryn Hill wasn’t just the best woman emcee or the best emcee alive and kicking. The former standout Fugees member was briefly the voice of her generation as she rode the multiplatinum, multi-Grammy success of her solo debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill . By February 1999, it was time to take the show on the road. Hill and her 10-piece band went beyond the hype, especially when they tore through a blistering take of the heartbreaking “Ex-Factor.”

Encore: Outkast (Atlantans Andre 3000 and Big Boi) rocked the house backed by some conspicuous props, including two front grilles of a Cadillac and a throwback Ford truck, kicked off their own headlining Stanklove theater tour in early 2001.

9. No Way Out Tour (1997-98)

Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, Lil’ Kim, Ma$e, Busta Rhymes, Foxy Brown, 112, The Lox, Usher, Kid Capri, Lil’ Cease and Jay-Z

The Los Angeles Times headline spoke volumes: “Combs to Headline Rare Rap Tour.” Combs, of course, is Sean “Diddy” Combs, the music, fashion, television and liquor mogul who Forbes estimates now has a net worth of $820 million. But back then, the hustler formerly known as Puff Daddy was struggling to keep his Bad Boy Records afloat after the March 9, 1997, murder of Brooklyn, New York, rhyme king The Notorious B.I.G.

But out of unspeakable tragedy rose Combs’ chart-dominating No Way Out album and an emotional all-star tour. Despite suggestions that large-scale rap shows were too much of a financial gamble, Puffy rallied the Bad Boy troops and a few close friends and proved the naysayers wrong. The No Way Out Tour was both a cathartic exercise and a joyous celebration of life. “It’s All About the Benjamins” shook the foundation of every building as Combs, The Lox and a show-stealing Lil’ Kim made monetary excess look regal. And the heartfelt Biggie tribute “I’ll Be Missing You,” which was performed live at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, had audiences in tears.

Gross: $16 million

Rap stars, from left, Redman, foreground, DMX, Method Man and Jay-Z join host DJ Clue, background left, in a photo session on Jan. 26, 1999, in New York, after announcing their 40-city Hard Knock Life Tour beginning Feb. 27, in Charlotte, N.C.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

8. Hard Knock Life Tour (1999)

Jay-Z, featuring DMX, Redman and Method Man

Jay-Z stands now as hip-hop’s most bankable live draw. In 2017, the newly minted billionaire’s 4:44 Live Nation production pulled in $44.7 million, becoming America’s all-time highest-grossing solo rap jaunt. It’s a long way from the days of Jay-Z lumbering through performances in a bulletproof vest when he was last off the bench on Puff Daddy’s No Way Out Tour.

Surely the seeds of Jay-Z’s evolution as a concert staple were first planted on his Hard Knock Life Tour, which was documented in the 2000 film Backstage . This was a confident, full-throated Shawn Carter, and he would need every ounce of charisma, with Ruff Ryders lead dog DMX enrapturing fans as if he were a Baptist preacher at a tent revival and the duo of Redman and Method Man rapping and swinging over crowds from ropes attached to moving cranes. What a gig.

Gross : $18 million

Flavor Flav (left) and Chuck D (right) of the rap group Public Enemy perform onstage in New York in August 1988.

7. Bring the Noise Tour (1988)

Public Enemy and Ice-T, featuring Eazy-E & N.W.A. and EPMD

There has always been a controlled chaos to a Public Enemy live show. Lead orator Chuck D jolted the crowd with a ferocity over the intricate, combustible production of the Bomb Squad while clock-rocking Flavor Flav, the prototypical hype man, jumped and zigzagged across the stage.

DJ Terminator X cut records like a cyborg and never smiled. And Professor Griff and the S1Ws exuded an intimidating, paramilitary presence. Armed with their 1988 watershed black nationalist work, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back , an album many music historians consider to be the pinnacle hip-hop statement, Public Enemy spearheaded arguably the most exciting rap tour ever conceived.

Encore: Along for the wild ride was the godfather of West Coast rap, Ice-T, who was putting on the rest of the country to Los Angeles’ violent Crips and Bloods gang wars with the too-real “Colors.” N.W.A. was just about to set the world on fire with their opus Straight Outta Compton. Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren and DJ Yella unleashed a profanity-laced declaration of street knowledge that was instantly slapped with parental advisory stickers. And Erick and Parrish were making dollars with their rough and raw EPMD joint Strictly Business .

6. Nitro World Tour (1989-90)

LL Cool J, featuring Public Enemy, Eazy E & N.W.A., Big Daddy Kane, Too $hort, EPMD, Slick Rick, De La Soul and Special Ed

But not even LL Cool J was ready for the monster that was N.W.A. The self-proclaimed World’s Most Dangerous Group completely hijacked the spotlight when N.W.A. was warned by officials not to perform their controversial track “F— the Police” at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena. A minute into the song, cops stormed the stage and shut down Eazy-E and crew’s volatile set, a wild scene that was later re-created in the 2015 N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton .

Encore: A few months before the Detroit gig, N.W.A. was booed during a Run-DMC show at New York’s Apollo Theater. “We all had watched Showtime at the Apollo , so we all knew if it went bad what was gonna happen,” Ice Cube explained on the Complex story series What Had Happened Was … “We hit the stage, and as soon as they saw the Jheri curls, all you heard was ‘Boo!’ I mean, before we even got a line out, they was booin’. I guess they just wasn’t feeling the Jheri curls.”

Rappers Christopher “Kid” Reid and Christopher “Play” Nolan of Kid ‘n Play perform onstage during “The World’s Greatest Rap Show Ever” on Jan. 3, 1992 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

5. The World’s Greatest Rap Show Ever (1991-92)

Public Enemy, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Geto Boys, Kid ’n Play, Naughty by Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, Leaders of the New School and Oaktown’s 3.5.7.

Props to the promoter who put together this awesome collection of hip-hop firepower for a tour that at least aimed to live up to its tagline. What stands out the most was the early acknowledgment of rap’s reach beyond the East and West coasts. The significance of including Houston’s Geto Boys, for instance, cannot be overstated.

Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill carried the flag for Southern hip-hop, winning over skeptical concertgoers with their raw dissection of ’hood paranoia, “ Mind Playing Tricks on Me ,” which had become a favorite on Yo! MTV Raps . Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince proved they could still rock the house with PG-rated material. (It helped that Will Smith had just begun the first season of NBC’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. ) Queen Latifah busted through the testosterone with the empowering “Ladies First.” And Naughty by Nature frequently knocked out the most crowd-pleasing set of the night with their promiscuous anthem “O.P.P.”

Encore: The World’s Greatest Rap Show Ever made its Jan. 3, 1992, stop at New York’s Madison Square Garden less than a week after nine people were fatally crushed at a hip-hop charity basketball game at City College of New York. Before Public Enemy’s powerful message of black self-determination, Heavy D, an organizer of the doomed event, made a plea for unity. Fans were certainly listening. The gig was a resounding, peaceful triumph.

LL Cool J performs at the Genesis Center in Gary, Indiana in December 1987.

Raymond Boyd/Getty Images

4. Def Jam Tour (1987)

LL Cool J, Whodini, Eric B. & Rakim, Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew, and Public Enemy

From 1986 to 1992, New York’s Def Jam Records was the premier hip-hop label. Its roster of artists, which included Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, EPMD and Slick Rick, was unparalleled in range and cultural dominance. So when it came time for partners Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin to spread the Def Jam gospel on its first international tour, the imprint’s biggest star, LL Cool J, was chosen to lead the way. And he didn’t disappoint.

James Todd Smith strutted out of a giant neon boombox sporting a Kangol hat, dookie rope gold chain and Adidas jacket. Of course, that jacket would soon be thrown to the floor as a shirtless Ladies Love Cool James tore through his ’85 single “Rock the Bells” as if it were the last song he would get to perform.

For many overseas, their first taste of American rap also included DJ Eric B. & Rakim, who were killing the streets with their 1987 masterpiece Paid In Full . Almost overnight in Germany, France, Norway and the Netherlands, hip-hop became the new religion.

Encore: This was the first proper world tour for Public Enemy, who had just dropped their 12-inch single “Rebel Without a Pause.” Although they were the opening act, Chuck D and his posse stole the show, establishing their standing as global behemoths. The now-legendary show at London’s Hammersmith Odeon can be heard throughout It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back .

The Up In Smoke Tour in 2000 was a dream team bill, headed by producer Dr. Dre and featuring Eminem, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and more.

Photo by Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

3. Up In Smoke (2000)

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Eminem, Tha Dogg Pound, Warren G and Nate Dogg, and Xzibit

The multimillion-dollar stage design put the concert industry on notice that not only could rap shows attain the lavish production values of the best rock shows, they could surpass them. It was also an emphatic statement that the largely West Coast rap dignitaries knew how to throw a party. And there still isn’t another hip-hop song that matches the first 20 seconds of Dre’s “Next Episode” in concert.

Gross : $22.2 million from 44 shows

2. Raising Hell Tour (1986)

Run-DMC, featuring LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys and Whodini

There’s a reason Run-DMC is hailed as the greatest live hip-hop act of its era. They understood that less is always more. Because of their stripped-down beats and rhymes, the group amplified the genius of every aspect of their concert presentation up to 11. Jam Master Jay’s scratching was more thunderous than the other DJs on the 1s and 2s. Run’s pay-me stage presence commanded respect. And D had the throat-grabbing voice of God. They wore Godfather hats, black jeans and shoelace-less Adidas sneakers. The Hollis, Queens, crew was the personification of cool.

LL Cool J was just 18 during the Raising Hell Tour, but he was coming after Run-DMC’s crown every night. The hotel-wrecking Beastie Boys co-piloted rap’s bum-rush into Middle America, scaring parents wherever they landed. And Whodini brilliantly straddled the line between electro funkateers and around-the-way dudes representing BK to the fullest.

As “Walk This Way,” Run-DMC’s genre-shifting Aerosmith collaboration, exploded on the pop charts, vaulting the Raising Hell album to 3 million copies sold (the first hip-hop album to go triple platinum), ticket sales followed. The 45-city tour affirmed hip-hop’s cultural takeover.

Encore: The image of Joseph Simmons commanding 20,000-plus fans to hold up their sneakers during a performance of “My Adidas” at a New York show is still a surreal sight.

1. Fresh Fest (1984)

Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, Whodini, The Fat Boys, Newcleus & the Dynamic Breakers, New York City Breakers, Turbo and Ozone

Ricky Walker had an idea: The concert promoter wanted to put together the first national rap music and break-dancing tour. In 1984, hip-hop had moved on from its underground beginnings in the Bronx. Run-DMC had just dropped their self-titled debut, and their “ Rock Box ” became the first rap video to received play on MTV. Breakin’ , the first break dancing movie to hit the big screen, pulled in nearly $40 million at the box office on a minuscule $1.2 million budget. Walker saw the future.

He called New York impresario Simmons to tap some of his Rush Productions talent, which included heartthrob Brooklyn trio Whodini , rap’s first solo superstar Kurtis Blow, the comedic Fat Boys and, of course, the hottest hip-hop act in the country, Run-DMC. But when it came time to promote the first show, billed as the Swatch Watch NYC Fresh Fest Festival , in Greensboro, North Carolina, Walker was laughed out of the room by a radio ad man.

Rap was still viewed by many record industry power brokers as a passing fad. In a 1985 interview with Billboard magazine, Walker recalled the salesperson pleading with him. “You’re a friend of mine,” he said. “Can’t I talk you out of doing this show?”

Walker’s instincts, however, proved to be dead-on. Fresh Fest moved 7,500 tickets in four hours. The tour, which also featured some of the best street dancers on the planet, such as Breakin’ stars Boogaloo Shrimp and Shabba Doo, as well as the synth funk-rap group Newcleus, not only did brisk business at mid-level venues but also sold out 20,000-seat arenas in Chicago and Philadelphia. Like the pioneering rock ‘n’ roll shows of the ’50s conceived by Cleveland radio DJ Alan Freed, the Fresh Fest proved that rap could be a serious and profitable art form. The rest is hip-hop history.

Gross : $3.5 million

Keith "Murph" Murphy is a senior editor at VIBE Magazine and frequent contributor at Billboard, AOL, and CBS Local. The veteran journalist has appeared on CNN, FOX News and A&E Biography and is also the author of the men’s lifestyle book "Manifest XO."

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Big Steppers Tour’ is now the highest-grossing rap tour of all time

The tour has taken him to arenas worldwide on the back of new album 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers'

Kendrick Lamar ‘s 2022 ‘Big Steppers Tour’ has become the highest-grossing rap tour of all time.

• READ MORE:  Kendrick Lamar live in Paris: a dramatic display from a true great

The tour took the Compton rapper to arenas across the globe last year in support of his fifth album  ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ . It began last summer after he opened the new era by headlining Glastonbury Festival 2022  alongside  Billie Eilish  and  Paul McCartney .

In  a five-star review of Lamar’s gig in Paris last year ,  NME  wrote: “[The] tour presents a creative vision that would boggle the minds of most mere mortals. It’s a stunning, moving display from a true great of modern rap.”

Now, the @touringdata Twitter account has shared new figures, revealing that the tour has now grossed $110.9million (£89.3m) across 73 shows with nearly a million tickets sold.

It now overtakes Drake and Migos ‘ 2018 tour ‘Aubrey & the Three Migos’, which grossed $79m (£63m).

. @kendricklamar 's "The Big Steppers" is the highest-grossing tour by a rapper as headlining act in history with $110.9 million from 929,000 tickets sold in 73 shows. — Touring Data (@touringdata) April 26, 2023

Top Tours by Rappers: #1 #KendrickLamar , "The Big Steppers" #2 #Drake , "Aubrey & the Three Migos" #3 #Drake & #Future , "Summer Sixteen" #4 #KanyeWest & #JayZ , "Watch the Throne" #5 #KendrickLamar , "Damn" #6 #TravisScott , "Astroworld" — Touring Data (@touringdata) April 26, 2023

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This summer, Kendrick will take the ‘Big Steppers Tour’ to festivals across Europe and the US.

In the US, he will headline August’s Outside Lands in San Francisco alongside  Foo Fighters  and  Lana Del Rey among others, then heading to Las Vegas for Life Is Beautiful the following month , where he will be joined at the top of the bill by The Killers  and  ODESZA .

Ahead of these events, he will headline Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee in June alongside Foo Fighters, ODESZA, Zeds Dead  and  Liquid Stranger , and New York City’s Governors Ball .

In Europe, Lamar will play Denmark’s Roskilde , Lollapalooza Paris , Poland’s Open’er , the two-leg Primavera Sound in Barcelona and Madrid and more.

Elsewhere, his lauded 2015 album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ recently surpassed  Radiohead ’s ‘ OK Computer ‘ as the top rated album of all time on community review site, Rate Your Music.

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Kendrick Lamar's 'Big Steppers Tour' Becomes Highest-Grossing Rap Tour Ever

Kendrick Lamar's The Big Steppers Tour is now the highest-grossing tour by a rapper as a headlining act, surpassing Drake's 2018 Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour

Kendrick Lamar ’s The Big Steppers Tour is now the highest-grossing tour in hip-hop history.

According to Touring Data, Kendrick’s nationwide trek has earned $110.9 million in revenue from 929,000 tickets sold across 73 shows. Big Steppers gives Kendrick the most lucrative tour ever by a rapper as a headlining act, surpassing Drake’s 2018 Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour, which pulled down $79 million in 2018 from a total of 678,410 tickets sold across 43 dates.

Rounding out the top five highest-grossing tours are Drake and Future’s 2016 Summer Sixteen Tour, Kanye West and Jay-Z’s 2011 Watch The Throne Tour, Kendrick’s 2017 DAMN Tour, and Travis Scott’s 2018’s Astroworld Tour.

Released in May 2022, Kendrick’s latest album earned the Compton rapper his fourth consecutive No. 1 LP and the biggest release week of 2022 so far with  Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.  The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart last week after earning an impressive 295,500 equivalent album units in its first week of availability.

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Drake And Future’s Summer Sixteen Breaks Record For Highest Grossing Hip-Hop Tour

Dethroning jay z and kanye west’s watch the throne tour..

WORLD FAMOUS A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Sep 11, 2016 at 5:38pm PDT

Drake and Future have broken a new record, as their Summer Sixteen tour is now the highest grossing hip-hop tour of all time. According to Pollstarpro 's ranking of the top tours from 2016, the Summer Sixteen tour grossed $84.3 million over the course of 56 dates. The duo has now dethroned the previous hip-hop record holders, Jay Z and Kanye West , for their 2012 Watch The Throne tour, which grossed $75.6 million over the course of 63 dates.

Drizzy took to Instagram to celebrate the announcement, shouting out OVO and FBG. He also teased that he'll be announcing a Europe tour next with some special guests sometime in the near future.

Read Next: The case for Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” as 2024’s Song of the Summer

The Pollstarpro report reveals that although Summer Sixteen is the highest grossing hip-hop tour, it only came in 11th in the ranking for the top tours of 2016. The highest spots were taken by Bruce Springsteen , Beyoncé , and Coldplay in that order, whose tours all grossed in the 200 millions.

Watch Future recap his biggest moments from 2016.

OVOFBG 🦉💵 EUROPE UP NEXT w/ special guests TBA 🥇 A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Jan 7, 2017 at 11:39pm PST

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These Are The Highest-Grossing Hip-Hop And RnB Tours Of The Last Decade

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The Jokers: Ranking the Net Worth of Every Actor Who Played the Iconic Role.

House of the dragon cast net worth: who rules the wealthy realm of westeros, lana del rey net worth: how the summertime sadness singer earned her millions, quick links, kendrick lamar, the damn tour, lil wayne, i am still music tour, travis scott, astroworld - wish you were here tour, jay-z, magna carter world tour, usher, omg tour, drake, summer sixteen tour, kanye west and jay-z, watch the throne tour, drake and migos, aubrey & the three migos tour, rihanna, diamonds world tour, beyoncé, mrs. carter world tour.

The music industry has changed dramatically since the turn of the century. In fact, it’s been almost entirely transformed. From the rise of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music to the emergence of social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter, the way we consume music has gone through several major shifts. And one of those changes has been the rise of live touring. While there are artists who prefer smaller venues where fans can see them up close, plenty of big name artists still perform in huge arenas around the world.

However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic , the industry ground to a halt as people avoided congregating in large numbers. The industry suffered a loss because the majority of planned live events did not take place. According to a report by Pollstar , they lost nearly $30 billion in revenue from sources like transportation, merchandise sales, ticket sales, concession sales, hotel stays, concert sponsorships, and other ancillary income.

RELATED: 8 Ways Young Thug Spends His Fortune

The hip-hop and R&B industry is still thriving and profitable despite this massive setback. Artists in the music industry have reaped huge financial rewards over the past decade. These tours have been an asset for artists and have seen record labels sign new artists yearly.

Today, we’ll take a look at some of the highest-selling hip-hop and RnB tours of the 2010s.

Damn, Kendrick Lamar's fourth studio album, was the inspiration for the accompanying Damn Tour. The album was a commercial and critical success, earning him a Grammy and making history as the first rap album to win a Pulitzer Prize . The performances ran across three legs: North America, Europe, and Oceania. The rapper grossed more than $40 million.

Rapper Lil Wayne headlined the tour in North America with special guest appearances from Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Keri Hilson, Lloyd, Travis Barker, and Mixmaster Mike. This tour, also known as the I Am Music II Tour, was Lil Wayne's follow-up to his massively successful 2008–2009 I Am Music Tour, which reportedly earned over $42 million. The Young Money leader grossed $47 million with the tour.

In 2019, the highest grossing hip-hop tour was Travis Scott's Astroworld, which made $53 million. There was also a noticeable increase in demand for his Cactus Jack sneakers, action figures, and other merchandise after the shows. Billboard reports that the Houston rapper has sold 485,659 tickets to his first 32 tour stops. The Astroworld tour marks Scott’s first headlining trek in arenas.

It is estimated that Jay-Z made $55.97 million from his worldwide Magna Carter tour. His twelfth studio album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, was released in tandem with the event's promotional activities. The hip-hop tycoon performed 52 times across Europe and North America over the course of four months in 2013. Within minutes of going on sale, tickets to both shows sold out, forcing the management to schedule rescheduled performances in Manchester and London.

In support of Raymond v. Raymond, Usher's sixth studio album, the singer embarked on his fourth concert tour, hitting four different continents. It had 73 performances and made $75 million, placing it at number seven on Billboard's list of the year's top tours.

Over the course of three months, the Canadian rapper toured the United States with Future by his side. They put on 54 performances totalling 85 million dollars in revenue.

Notably, this was the highest-grossing hip-hop tour of all time as of 2016. Accompanying the news regarding the tour, Drake also had his single “One Dance” streamed over one billion times and his album views over three billion times. Onstage guest appearances included; J.Cole, Rihanna, Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Young Thug, YG, Snoop Dogg, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, French Montana, T.I and DJ Khaled.

Two of hip hop's biggest names teamed up for a tour in support of a joint album with the same title. The rappers, fresh off their success in North America, announced a 23-show European tour. The tour grossed a total of $95 million. Despite its popularity, there wasn't much buzz leading up to its debut; Voyr was the only sponsor for the concert footage.

Drake and Migos' 43-date co-headlining tour made $111 million in revenue despite having a few shows cancelled. Travis Scott, Tory Lanez, French Montana, Meek Mill, Chris Brown, YG, Post Malone, E-40, and Lil Wayne were among the many special guests. The concert tour had support from the Migos' third studio album Culture II and Drake’s fifth studio album, Scorpion.

RELATED: Unapologetically Loud: The Best Selling Albums of Rihanna, Ranked

The Diamonds World Tour is the official tour in support of Rihanna’s Unapologetic album. The shows kicked off in March 2013 and ended in November of the same year with a total of 96. Out of the 96 shows, only three didn’t sell out. One of Rihanna's biggest tours ever was in Morocco, where she performed for 150,000 fans. Opening acts included A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz, David Guetta, GTA, and Haim. The tour made a total of $140 million.

On the Run II is the second co-headlining tour by American music couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé. The run kicked off in Europe on June 6, 2018, and wrapped up in the United States on October 4, 2018. Associated albums include Everything Is Love, Lemonade, and 4:44. Everything Is Love came after a London show on June 16, 2018.

On the Run II is ranked the 3rd highest grossing tour of 2018 by Billboard, selling over 2 million tickets and made $253 million. A notable collaboration for the tour was by the House of Givenchy for performance costumes. On the Run II is the sequel to their 2014 On the Run Tour, which made a net gross of $109 million.

The music industry is only getting bigger. Hip-hop and R&B have developed into a very lucrative touring industry in addition to being among the most popular genres of today. From artists like Kanye West, Jay Z and Drake taking over stadiums and hitting arenas, there are plenty of ways to make money off the genre.

READ NEXT: From Being Homeless To Winning A Grammy: Here's How Anderson .Paak Made It Big In The Music Industry

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Travis Scott On Track To Have One Of Hip Hop's Highest Grossing Tours

Travis Scott is set to further write himself into the Hip Hop history books thanks to his Circus Maximus Tour.

According to Touring Data , La Flame’s global trek is on pace to become one of the highest-grossing tours in rap history.

“[Travis Scott’s] ‘Circus Maximus’ now aiming for $130-140 million from over 1.1 million tickets in 61 shows, following additional dates in Europe . It will mark the second highest-grossing tour by a Rapper in history,” the account reported on X (formerly Twitter).

With that figure, Travis’ tour will surpass other major rap runs like Kendrick Lamar ‘s The Big Steppers Tour, 50 Cent ‘s Final Lap Tour and Drake and Migos ‘ Aubrey & The Three Migos Tour.

The 6 God still holds the overall record, though, with his It’s All a Blur Tour, which has generated a staggering $215 million in revenue from 50 of 80 shows.

. @trvisXX 's "Circus Maximus" now aiming for $130-140 million from over 1.1 million tickets in 61 shows, following additional dates in Europe. It will mark the second highest-grossing tour by a Rapper in history. Event Date; City; Venue 06/28 – Arnhem @ Gelredome 06/30 – Arnhem… — Touring Data (@touringdata) May 15, 2024

Top Tours by Rappers: Revenue; Artist; Tour; Shows $215.9M; #Drake ; It's All a Blur; 50/80 $110.9M; #KendrickLamar ; The Big Steppers; 73 $105.0M; #50Cent ; The Final Lap; 92/97 $103.1M; #Drake ; Aubrey & the Three Migos; 54 $82.4M; #TravisScott ; Circus Maximus; 38/61 $81.0M;… — Touring Data (@touringdata) May 15, 2024

It was back in November 2023, long before their rivalry exploded into a full-on battle, that Drake snatched the title belt from Kendrick Lamar to claim the highest-grossing Hip Hop tour ever.

K. Dot had broken the record a few months earlier when his Big Steppers Tour surpassed $110 million in ticket sales.

But he was soon eclipsed by Drizzy’s It’s All a Blur Tour, which began last summer and resumed earlier this year with support from J. Cole and Lil Durk , pulling in almost $130 million from just 30 shows.

Meanwhile, 50 Cent’s Final Lap entered the race earlier this year when its revenue reached $84 million — a figure that has since risen to $105 million.

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May 8, 2024

The G-Unit boss reacted to the news on Instagram at the time, and took an opportunity to jab his ex-girlfriend and baby mother Daphne Joy over allegations that she was paid by Diddy as a sex worker .

“Whistle while you work guys, that’s my theme for today. I made all this money and I’m  practicing abstinence , [shrug emoji] I don’t want a little sex worker,” he wrote.

Billed as 50 Cent’s farewell as a touring artist, the Final Lap Tour began in North America last July and later invaded Europe, Australia and Saudi Arabia, among other regions.

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Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus Tour Becomes Highest-Grossing Rap Event Of 2024

Travis Scott is crushing it this year and we are barely halfway through 2024.

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Travis Scott continues to break records in 2024. As of Monday (June 3), Scott’s Circus Maximus tour has become the highest-grossing live rap show circuit of the year. The feat alone now allows Scott to stand amongst the top ten highest-grossing touring artists, alongside giants like U2, Madonna and Depeche Mode.

To be exact, the Grammy-nominated rapper’s 44-date North American Circus Maximus tour grossed an impressive $95.7 million while attracting a whopping 686,000 attendees. The tour also broke multiple merchandise sale records across various states and also saw Scott make history as the first rapper to headline a sold-out show at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Additionally, Scott’s UTOPIA album has surpassed 50 billion global streams amid the massive North American leg of the tour. Now, Scott looks to conquer stadiums and arenas across the pond during the upcoming European leg of the tour, set to start later this month.

We added SPAIN , PORTUGAL Running back Frankfurt. On sale on Friday https://t.co/igthHpVV0a pic.twitter.com/n2vS8wwuQj — TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) May 15, 2024

Though it doesn’t kick off until June 28 at the GelreDome in the Netherlands, the European leg of the tour is already generating massive numbers and has already grossed $49.9 million with 425,271 tickets sold. Produced by Live Nation, the tour includes sold-out shows at major venues like the Rhein Energie Stadion in Cologne, Germany, and the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, culminating in his largest-ever U.K. headline show at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

In light of the success of the tour, the Cactus Jack Foundation has launched a philanthropic initiative to support residents in his home state of Texas. For every ticket sold, one Euro/Pound will be donated to the Cactus Jack Foundation, which aims to uplift Houston youth through toy drives, scholarship programs for HBCU college students, and funding education and creative endeavors.

Scott and Cactus Jack’s philanthropy doesn’t stop there, either. Along with the “MELTDOWN” rapper’s newly launched special-edition AJ1 Elkins Jordan Brand shoe, Scott and the Cactus Jack Foundation have partnered with the Houston Food Bank and established a relief fund to provide emergency aid to thousands of hurricane-affected residents in Houston. Proceeds from the shoe sales supporting this initiative have been funneled through donations to support the aforementioned efforts.

Check out Scott’s AJ1 Elkins shoe, which features the signature reverse Swoosh logo and pays homage to his high school alma mater in Missouri City, Texas below.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by flame (@travisscott)

Travis Scott Earns Highest Grossing Rap Tour Of 2024 With "Circus Maximus"

Travis Scott has achieved the highest-grossing hip-hop tour of 2024 with his ongoing Circus Maximus run of shows. In a press release sent to HNHH on Monday, his team confirmed that the sold-out 44-date North American run of concerts brought in $95.7M with an attendance of 686k. It also broke several merchandise sale records in various states. Additionally, it led to Scott becoming the first rapper in history to headline a sold-out SoFi Stadium show in Los Angeles.

News of Scott's success in North America comes as he prepares to embark on a sold-out leg of the tour in Europe over the summer. During the next few months, he'll be performing in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and several more countries overseas. The dates will kick off on June 28th in the Netherlands.

Read More: Travis Scott's Aiming For Second Highest Grossing Rap Tour In History

Travis Scott Performs At Rolling Loud

Prior to his tour, Scott dropped his fourth studio album, Utopia , featuring collaborations with Drake, Playboi Carti, Beyonce Tthe Weeknd, Young Thug , Kid Cudi , SZA, Future , and James Blake, among many others. It debuted at number one on Billboard 200 chart, earning 496,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.

Travis Scott's Upcoming Tour Schedule

• Friday, 28th June - Netherlands, Arnhem – GelreDome
• Sunday, 30 th  June - Arnhem, Netherlands - GelreDome 
• Tuesday, 2nd July - Poland, Krakow - TAURON Arena
• Thursday, 5th July - Switzerland, Zurich – Hallenstadion
• Saturday, 6th July - France, Nice - Allianz Riviera
• Monday, 8th July - Belgium, Antwerp – Sportpaleis
• Thursday, 11th July  - UK, London – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
• Saturday, 13th July  - UK, Manchester - Co-op Live
• Tuesday, 16th July  - Germany, Hamburg - Barclays Arena
• Thursday, 18th July  - Czech Republic, Prague - O2 Arena
• Saturday, 20th July - Germany, Cologne – RheinEnergieSTADION
• Tuesday, 23rd July - Italy, Milan - Ippodromo SNAI La Maura
• Friday, 26 th  July - Frankfurt, Germany - Deutsche Bank Park 
• Saturday, 27th July - Germany, Frankfurt - Deutsche Bank Park
• Tuesday, 30 th  July - Madrid, Spain - WiZink Center 
• Friday, 2 nd  August - Lisbon, Portugal - MEO Arena 

Check out the full tour dates for the European leg of the Circus Maximus tour above. Be on the lookout for further updates on Travis Scott on HotNewHipHop .

Read More: Travis Scott Announces European Leg Of His Epic Circus Maximus Tour

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More From Forbes

These are the 10 highest-grossing tours of all time.

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DUBLIN, IRELAND - JUNE 12: English singer-songwriter Elton John performs on stage during the ... [+] 'Farewell Yellow Brick Road'-Tour in the 3Arena in Dublin on June 12, 2019. (Photo by Debbie Hickey/Getty Images)

Touring has become even more important to musicians in the streaming era, as many musicians earn more on the road from ticket sales than from record sales these days. At the same time, the price of admission to see a chart-topper has done up, and those two factors–among others–mean that many of the highest-grossing tours of all time have taken place in the past decade or two.

At the top of the list is Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which grossed an impressive $853 million, according to Billboard Boxscore . The tour began in 2018 and after a Covid-related break, is still ongoing, so that record-breaking sum will increase before the piano player is done on the road for good.

The second spot on this important list goes to Ed Sheeran's ÷ (Divide) Tour, which grossed $776 million. This tour began in 2017 and ran until 2019.

U2's U2 360° Tour comes in third place, having grossed $736 million. This tour was notable for its unique stage design, which featured a massive, claw-shaped stage that allowed fans to view the concert from every angle. The tour began in 2009 and ended in 2011, after 110 shows across five continents.

Guns N' Roses' Not in This Lifetime... Tour takes fourth place, with a gross of $584 million. The tour reunited original members Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan, and ran from 2016 to 2022, covering a little more than 150 shows. The trek was notable for its reformation of the legendary rock band, but also because the group toured...and then basically doubled the venture, playing more concerts than initially intended.

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The Rolling Stones take up two spots in the top 10—the only act to do so—with their A Bigger Bang Tour and No Filter Tours, which grossed $558 million and $547 million, respectively. The A Bigger Bang Tour ran from 2005 to 2007, while the No Filter Tour began in 2017 and was set to end in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rockers picked it back up in 2021, adding to the venture's total.

The final spots on the list of the highest-grossing tours of all time are occupied by Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams Tour (No. 7, $524 million), Roger Waters' The Wall Live (No. 8, $459 million), AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour (No. 9, $442 million) and finally Harry Styles' Love on Tour (No. 10, $418 million). Styles is the most recent addition to this group, as his trek just broke this top 10 in April 2023. He grabbed that lowest spot from Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Like John at No. 1, Styles has not finished his current tour as of the writing of this article, so he may advance on this all-time ranking.

These are the 10 highest-grossing tours of all time.

No. 1 - Elton John - Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour - $853 million

No. 2 - Ed Sheeran - The ÷ (Divide) Tour - $776 million

No. 3 - U2 - U2 360° Tour - $736 million

No. 4 - Guns N' Roses - Not in This Lifetime... Tour - $584 million

No. 5 - The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang Tour - $558 million

No. 6 - The Rolling Stones - No Filter Tour - $547 million

No. 7 - Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams Tour - $524 million

No. 8 - Roger Waters - The Wall Live - $459 million

No. 9 - AC/DC - Black Ice World Tour - $442 million

No. 10 - Harry Styles - Love on Tour - $418 million

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• Kursk Tourism
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Top Tourist Attractions in Kursk

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Best Things To Do in Kursk, Russia

Have you ever visited a new place and felt ‘wow’ about it? For many visitors, it happens at Kursk.

Kursk may not be as popular as other cities in Russia, but don’t let that fool you. Kursk is a smaller but beautiful upcoming tourist destination that is worth a visit. You will be surprised by some of the unique things to do and places you can explore at this hidden destination.

You might wish to revisit it someday again, to take a break and relax at Kursk.

If you have plans to visit Russia and are not sure if Kursk should be included in your itinerary, keep reading. In this list, we have put together some of the things to do in Kursk and around. We have a hunch that if you include this city in your travel plans, you will be thrilled you did so.

Tourist Attractions in Kursk

Here is the list of things to do in Kursk and tourist attractions in city.

Kursk Vostochny Airport

Address: Kursk Vostochny Airport, Kursk, Russia Ulitsa Aeroporta, Kursk, Kurskaya oblast', Russia, 305040

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Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Week: Full Schedule of Events

From industry galas to consumer showcases, a complete rundown of the events that will bring the music business together in New York this week.

• By Chris Eggertsen

Chris Eggertsen

To celebrate the visionary leaders shaping the future of hip-hop and R&B, Billboard is hosting a week of events across New York for fans, creators and the entrepreneurs powering the business behind the scenes.

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Tres Generaciones Impact Dinner An intimate gathering for the tastemakers pushing hip-hop forward, hosted by Billboard ‘s official tequila brand. 

R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players Billboard ‘s annual ceremony celebrating the most powerful people working in R&B and hip-hop.

Luther Vandross film screening & Billboard honor: Soul Train Tribute to Luther: Never Too Much Garvey Park @ 18 Mount Morris Park Open to the public 6 p.m. – DJ 6:30-7 p.m. – Audience Soul Train dance line 7-8 p.m. – Music performances 8-9:30 p.m. – Screening of Luther: Never Too Much

Friday, 9/6

She Made It Programming includes panels, workshops and networking PMC Ground Floor Studio @ 475 5th Ave. 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Hip-Hop Live consumer showcase Xanadu Roller Arts @ 262 Starr St., Bushwick ( Find Tickets ) 8-9 p.m. DJ Miss Milan 9-9:25 p.m. BigXthaPlug 9:25-9:50 p.m. BossMan Dlow 10 p.m. Teezo Touchdown 11 p.m. End

Billboard Afterparty Harbor NYC @ 621 W. 46th St. 11 p.m.

Saturday, 9/7

Sunday, 9/8.

Billboard R&B No. 1s The Box Honoring Usher (R&B Entertainer of the Year), Tyla (Global Force), Victoria Monet (Hitmaker), Lucky Daye (Torchbearer) & Luther Vandross (Icon)

Monday, 9/9

Blue Note and Billboard Present Marsha Ambrosius featuring the music from her collaboration with Dr. Dre, Casablanco Blue Note Jazz Club @ 131 W. 3rd St. ( Find Tickets ) 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m. Watch the live stream @billboard at 10:30pm ET

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Want Double-Digit Streaming Growth? Look Outside the U.S.

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History of Kursk

11th century, first mention.

Although archaeological evidence suggests that there was a large settlement in the location of Kursk before the 8th Century, Kursk was first mentioned in 1032 in the Hagiography of St Theodosius (Feodosi) of the Kiev-Caves, who grew up in Kursk which was by then already a large, developed and important city. In approximately 1095 Izyaslav Vladimirovich, a son of Vladimir Monomakh, became the first prince of Kursk although he only ruled there for a year as shortly afterwards he was elevated to prince of Murom. However Prince Izyalslav had enough time to build a fortress in Kursk, making the settlement one of the strongest on the borders of Kievan Rus.

12th Century

Princes of kursk.

As only a minor principality, the Kursk Principality did not always have its own prince and never had its own dynasty of Ryurikid princes. The principality often passed between the various factions of Ryurikid princes during this period of time when internecine wars were common. In 1127 Vsevolod Olgovich took Chernigov from his uncle. To stop Mstislav the Great interfering in this conflict Vsevolod gave him Kursk and the surrounding lands. In turn Mstislav the Great made his son Izyaslav prince of Kursk. Izyaslav Mstislavich ruled as prince of Kursk until 1130 when he became prince of Polotsk. The Olgovichy princes were able to regain Kursk in 1136 : Gleb Olgovich ruled Kursk up to his death in the city in 1138 and was followed by his younger brother Svyatoslav Olgovich who ruled in Kursk until 1139 when he returned to be prince of Novgorod. In 1146 Svyatoslav Olgovich became prince of Novgorod-Seversky, which included Kursk. Svyatoslav gave Kursk to Ivan Yurievich, son of his ally Yuri Dolgoruky. Ivan Yurievich died in 1147 and Svyatoslav gave the principality to Ivan's younger brother Gleb who ruled in Kursk until 1148 .

Tale of Prince Igor's Campaign

In 1161 Kursk once again had its own prince - Oleg Svyatoslavich, son of Svyatoslav Olgovich. Oleg ruled in Kursk until 1164 when he became prince of Novgorod-Seversky. Oleg's brother Vsevolod succeeded him in Kursk. Vsevolod Svyatoslavich was known as Vsevolod Bui-Tur, meaning something along the lines of Mighty Bull. As his sobriquet suggests he was known for his bravery in dealing with the Cumans (Polovtsians). In 1185 Prince Igor of Novgorod-Seversky led an unsuccessful campaign against the Cumans which is the subject of the famous 12th-century Tale of Prince Igor's Campaign. Prince Vsevolod Bui-Tur accompanied his brother on the campaign and also features as one of the heroes in the tale. Vsevolod Bui-Tur remained prince of Kursk until his death in 1196 .

13th Century

Mongol-tatar invasion of rus.

After Vsevolod Bui-Tur's death in 1196 , it is unclear who became prince of Kiev. It is possible that he was succeeded by his nephew Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich of Rylsk. In 1223 a Prince Oleg of Kursk participated in the Battle of River Kalka against the Mongols, Prince Oleg was a descendent of Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich of Novgorod-Seversky, possibly the son of Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich of Rylsk. After Prince Oleg, information on the princes of Kursk is unclear. In any case the principality came to an end in 1238 when Kursk was destroyed during the Mongol-Tatar Invasion of Rus. Later Kursk was once again devastated by Mongol-Tatar forces in response to the citizens of Kursk rising up against the Mongol representative there.

14th and 15th Centuries

The Mongol-Tatar Invasion significantly weakened Russian territories and Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania took advantage of this situation. In the 1350s Algirdas managed to capture the Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky lands, including Kursk, and incorporated them into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Kursk would remain part of Lithuania up until the beginning of the 16th century. In 1402 Kursk is mentioned as a Lithuanian city in an agreement between Lithuania and the Teutonic Order. Throughout the 15th century the city was raided by Crimean Tatars and the Nogais.

16th Century

Russian-lithuanian wars.

The Russian-Lithuanian War of 1500 - 1503 was very successful for Russia which gained control of one-third of Lithuanian territory, including Kursk. After the Russian-Lithuanian War of 1507 - 1508 a peace treaty was signed between Russia and Lithuania under which Grand Duke Sigismund I the Old of Lithuania recognised the territory won by Grand Prince Ivan III of Rus during the 1500 - 1503 war as territory of Russia. In 1597 Tsar Fyodor I had a new fortress constructed in Kursk to protect it from Crimean Tatar raids.

17th Century

Znamensky monastery.

Kursk was one of the first cities to declare its support of the First False Dmitri in 1604 . When Dmitri was in Kursk he demanded the Our Lady of the Kursk Root Icon be brought to him and later he took it with him to Moscow. In 1612 Polish interventionists began besieging the Kursk fortress. The defenders refused to surrender even though the situation looked hopeless. Legend has it they made an oath to build a monastery should the Virgin Mary protect them. Several weeks later the siege was lifted and the fortress did not fall. The defenders immediately began to fulfil their oath and built a wooden church dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. In approximately 1615 , Tsar Michael returned the Our Lady of the Kursk Root Icon to the nearby Korennaya Hermitage and in 1618 the icon was transferred to a newly established monastery in Kursk. It remained in Kursk thereafter only returning to the Korennaya Hermitage on annual religious processions. In 1649 on the orders of Tsar Michael a new  stone cathedral was built especially to house the icon and from this point onwards the monastery became known as the Znamensky monastery.

18th Century

Administrative reform.

In 1708 Kursk became part of the Kiev Governorate and in 1727 part of the Belgorod Governorate. In 1779 it was elevated to the administrative centre of the Kursk Viceroyalty. A coat of arms was officially approved for the city in 1780 which depicts three partridges flying on a blue strip on a silver background. In 1781 there was a major fire in Kursk and subsequently a new general plan was adopted for the city. Kursk became the administrative centre of the  in 1797 .

19th Century

Our lady of the kursk root icon and religious processions.

In the mid-19th century the religious procession with the Our Lady of the Kursk Root Icon from Kursk's Znamensky Monastery to the nearby Korennaya Hermitage became one of the biggest religious events in the empire and tens of thousands of people took part in it. In 1883 the artist Ilya Repin depicted this religious procession in his famous painting in which he shows the various social strata in Russia at the time. In 1898 an anarchist placed a bomb in the Our Lady of the Sign Cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery under the Our Lady of the Kursk Root Icon. The explosion caused great damage to the cathedral but when the priest found the silver case of the icon in the rubble, he discovered that the icon itself has miraculously survived.

20th Century

In 1917 Soviet power was declared in Kursk, but the volunteer army of General Anton Denikin briefly occupied the city from September to November 1919 when the Soviets retook the city. When Denikin's army left Kursk they took with them the Our Lady of the Kursk Root Icon, which was eventually taken to the USA where it remains today. In 1934 Kursk became the centre of the newly-established Kursk Region.

Second World War

On 29 August 1941 Kursk experienced its first bombing raid by the Luftwaffe and on 1 November 1941 the city was attacked. Kursk fell two days later on 3 November 1941 and was only liberated on 8 February 1943 by the 60th army of the Voronezh Front. The liberation of Kursk resulted in what is known as the Kursk Salient - a Soviet-controlled bulge on the frontline around the city. It was obvious to the Soviets that soon Hitler would launch an attempt to recapture the city. Marshal Zhukhov was among those who argued that the Red Army should go on the defensive and only once the Nazis had been exhausted should they launch a counter-attack. This proved to be a successful tactic and at the Battle of the Kursk Salient, which was fought between 5 July to 23 August 1943 , the Soviets were victorious, although at a very high cost. The Battle of Prokhorovka (often also called the Battle of Kursk) took place during the Battle of the Kursk Salient in Prokhorovka outside Belgorod and was the largest tank battle in history. After the Battle of the Kursk Salient, the Nazis remained on the defensive for the rest of the war.

21st Century

After the fall of the Soviet Union, many of Kursk's churches were once again reopened.  This included the Znamensky Monastery and the new century saw the religious procession from the monastery to the Korennaya Hermitage being revived and gaining in popularity.  In 2007 Kursk was awarded the title of City of Military Glory for the “courage, endurance and mass heroism, demostrated by defenders of the city in the struggle for the freedom and independence of the Motherland”.

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