Diddy tops world richest artistes list with $700 million. See full list.

Back in 2007, Sean “Diddy” Combs teamed with Jay Z and 50 Cent to create a song titled “I Get Money: Forbes 1-2-3 Billion Dollar Remix.” Less than a decade later, rappers are closing in on ten-figure fortunes, and he’s the nearest of the bunch. Diddy leads the pack with an estimated fortune of $700 million, an increase of $120 million over his net worth last year. The change comes largely from the addition of Revolt TV—the new, music-focused, multi-platform channel of which he’s the majority owner—to his already-hefty portfolio. Diddy has plenty of competition in the race to $1 billion. His top challengers are Dr. Dre, who ranks second with $550 million, and Jay Z, in third place with an estimated $520 million. The former leapfrogged the latter on this year’s Forbes Five thanks to a large stake in Beats By Dr. Dre, which he cofounded with Interscope chief Jimmy Iovine in 2008. The company controls an astounding two-thirds of the premium headphone market, with annual sales reportedly in excess of $1 billion and growing. Private equity firm Carlyle invested $500 million for a minority stake last year, pushing Beats’ value past $1 billion and likely closer to $2 billion. “Beats has a unique brand—it speaks to a nice young demographic, which is really interesting to marketers,” says Peter Csathy, former president of Musicmatch, an early digital music purveyor acquired by YahooYHOO+0.11%in 2004 for $160 million. “When I think about Beats, I think about it as a lifestyle, I think of it as a media company, not just a hardware and music-focused company.” Jay Z’s fortune continues to grow at a healthy clip, too. He’s made multiple nine-figure deals in the past, including his $204 million Rocawear sale in 2007 and his $150 million pact with Live Nation in 2008. But much of his recent growth comes from Roc Nation, his record label and management firm that recently added a sports agency. The outfit gets a single-digit cut of pacts like Robinson Cano’s $240 million monster agreement. Bryan “Birdman” Williams, whose net worth would be over $300 million if he didn’t share his fortune with brother Ronald “Slim” Williams. The duo cofounded Cash Money Records two decades ago; Cash Money continues to grow with a roster that includes Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. Birdman has also diversified with Cash Money Content, GT Vodka and the YMCMB clothing line. Rounding out the list is 50 Cent, who owes most of his fortune to his $100 million haul from the sale of Vitaminwater in 2007. Now he’s trying to repeat the feat with companies like SMS Audio and SK Energy beverages. In the meantime, he’ll reboot his music career by taking his G-Unit Records independent and releasing new albumAnimal Ambitionin June.Culled from Forbes. Note: This story is an expanded version of a piece that ran in the May 5, 2014 issue of FORBES magazine

Paul Walker's Brothers Mimicking Paul's Voice For 'Fast and Furious 7'

According to a report by TMZ, Paul Walker's brothers don't just look like him, they sound like him too ... and TMZ has learned the "Fast and Furious 7" folks will use their voices to help fill out portions of Walker's movie dialogue. Sources close to the the Walker family tell TMZ ... the production team for "FF7" will try something they have never done before ... merging archival audio of Walker's voice with his brothers' voices to fill in some gaps in the movie. We're told it will take both brothers, Caleb and Cody, to get everything to match up. Our sources say the production team tested the voice of each brother and learned that certain words sound better coming from one brother, and different ones from the other ... so they will combine them to help make the dialogue work. Our sources say the men have already started working on production.

19-yr-old Pakistani caught with N228m worth of heroin at MMIA

 A 19 year old Pakistani student named Iftikihar Muhammed Arslan, (pictured above) has been arrested by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA) for possession and attempted smuggling of 25.400kg of heroin said to be worth N228m into Nigeria, Vanguard reports Arslan was apprehended at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport during inward screening on passengers on board a Qatar Airways flight. 25 parcels containing the hard drugs were discovered in his luggage. The suspect believed to be in a drug cartel through his passport showed that he left Lahore, Pakistan with the drugs to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, then Doha, in Qatar, from where he connected to Lagos. Continue... In his confessional statement, Arslan denied knowledge of the drugs in his bag, saying he was here in Nigeria to experience the beauty of Victoria Island and Ikoyi "I am a student of Punjab College and I am in Nigeria as a tourist because my friend told me that Victoria Island and Ikoyi are beautiful tourist centres. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the Lagos airport, the heroin was found in my luggage. This is my first time of coming to Nigeria and I had intended to spend a week or two.” he said. Confirming the incident, the Chairman of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said that this was the highest drug arrest they have made since this year and it goes to show that NDLEA is winning the fight against drug trafficking "This arrest and seizure will further send a warning to drug trafficking cartels that Nigeria is winning the fight against narcotics. NDLEA is prepared to halt the criminal activities of drug barons through a coordinated drug detection strategies. We are working very hard to also identify other members of the criminal group" he said Culled from LIB

Drake Accused of Stealing Music And Lying About Permission

Drake cheated and lied on his latest album -- shamelessly stealing a jazz musician's lyrics and then lying on the album that he got permission -- so claims the jazz musician's people.

The song in question is "Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2."   The song begins with a 35 second monologue from a 1982 song -- "Jimmy Smith Rap" -- recorded by jazz musician Jimmy Smith.

According to a new lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- Drake never got permission to use the clip.  Even worse, represented in the liner notes that the clip was properly licensed.

Jimmy's dead, but his Estate insists in the lawsuit NO permission was given nor did anyone ask for it.

The Estate is going after Drake, Cash Money Records and a bunch of others ... gunning for more than $300K.

TMZ reached out to Drake for comment ... so far, no word back.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz2z7XMVMtB

'X-Men' Director Bryan Singer Sued for Allegedly Sexually Molesting Teen ... Singer Calls BS

"X-Men" director Bryan Singer has been sued by a man who claims Singer molested him when he was a young teenager at raunchy Hollywood parties ... but Singer says the suit is an outrageous pack of lies.

The lawsuit claims the teen -- who is now around 30 -- was lured to a mansion in Encino, CA when he was 14 or 15 to attend a party that allegedly had a rep for featuring "sexual contact between adult males and the many teenage boys who were present for the parties."

The lawsuit claims Singer provided alcohol for the boy and offered him a role in one of his upcoming movies, and then told him how "this group" controls Hollywood.  The suit claims Singer performed oral sex on the boy and then strong-armed the boy to return the favor -- allegedly forcing him to perform the act underwater in the pool.

The suit goes on to accuse Singer of providing the boy with drugs -- including coke -- on another occasion, allegedly promising him a role in an "X-Men" flick.

Singer's lawyer, Marty Singer, says, "The claims made against Bryan Singer are completely without merit.  We are very confident that Bryan will be vindicated in this absurd and defamatory lawsuit." 

Attorney Singer adds, "It is obvious that this case was filed in an attempt to get publicity at a time when Bryan's new movie is about to open in a few weeks."

Culled from TMZ