Forbes has put out their annual earnings lists, including hip-hop’s top earners of 2012. While some of the numbers may be slightly surprising, don’t fret, you will still find yourself utterly disappointed by the majority of people that rake in this kind of cash.

A bit of a surprise for just how much he pulled in, Dr. Dre tops the list at the number one slot, collecting over $110 million for himself this past year. With no release date in sight for his long-awaited album, Detox, how did he get here? The answer: Beats by Dr. Dre, which is responsible for more than half of all premium headphone sales in the country. Smartphone manufacturer HTC purchased a 51% stake in the company last year for a $300 million pricetag, however, Dre’s cash flow is so strong that he actually bought back the 51% share from HTC not too long ago.

Coming in at number two is P. Diddy, bringing in $45 million, due largely in part to his share of profits from Diageo’s Ciroc Vodka and of course, his usual earnings from Sean John. Weird, nothing to do with music. In the number 3 slot with $38 million, we find Jay-Z who pulls in the majority of his dinero through ownership stakes in numerous companies including the Brooklyn Nets, cosmetics company Carol’s Daughter, Duracell batteries and Budweiser. I’m sure Rocawear sales and revenue from Watch The Throne album/tour didn’t hurt either.

Fast forward to the number 20 slot and we find Tech N9ne? Definitely the most surprising name on the list. Apparently when you perform over 200 shows in a calendar year, you have some serious earning potential. Couple that with numerous album releases off his self-owned label Strange Music and you get yourself $6 million bucks. Not bad.

Before dropping the rest of the list, I’d like to preface by just apologizing. It pains me to compile a “hip hop list” and include some of the following “artists”. Sadly, it will only be in our wildest dreams where the top 20 money makers in hip hop are actually all talented, deserving artists who make beautiful, genuine music. With that said, here are the top 20 earners in the hip hop world for 2012…

1. Dr. Dre – $110 million

2. P. Diddy – $45 million

3. Jay-Z – $38 million

4. Kanye West – $35 million

5. Lil Wayne – $27 million

6. Drake – $20.5 million

7. Bryan “Birdman” Williams – $20 million

8. Nicki Minaj – $15.5 million

9. Eminem – $15 million

10. Ludacris – $12 million

11. Pitbull – $9.5 million

t12. Rick Ross – $9 million

t12. Wiz Khalifa – $9 million

14. Snoop Dogg/Lion – $8.5 million

15. 50 Cent – $7.5 million

t16. Swizz Beatz – $7 million

t16. Pharrell Williams – $7 million

t16. Young Jeezy – $7 million

19. Mac Miller – $6.5 million

t20. Akon – $6 million

t20. Timbaland – $6 million

t20. Tech N9ne – $6 million

Find more details in the full article on Forbes’ website.