Zack O'Malley Greenburg's Blog, page 16

From Camila Cabello To Post Malone: The 30 Under 30 Music Class Of 2019

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Post Malone is having a year of commercial success that even the Beatles would envy. His Beerbongs & Bentleys came out in April; by May, the album had smashed the Fab Four’s 54-year old record for most songs simultaneously charting on Billboard’s Hot 100. Malone has tallied over 6 billion streams on the year—and earned a spot in the 30 Under 30 Music Class of 2019.

“Not many artists can say they’ve ever had a year like the year Post just had,” says...

Afrojack In Amsterdam: The Dutch DJ On The Business Of Life

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Last month Forbes launched its first-ever European Under 30 Summit in Amsterdam, with speakers including Class of 2015 alum Afrojack. After kicking off the festivities with a one-on-one keynote with yours truly, the Dutch DJ–who hails from Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam–gave us a tour of his home country from the comfort of his Maybach, opining on legal marijuana, income inequality, the perils of stardom and his love of cars.

“If you love something, don’t try t...

With Hozier, Mike Posner, Billie Eilish And Boi-1da, Music Takes Center Stage At U30 Summit

Singer-songwriter Hozier explains the process behind his lyrics onstage at the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Boston.

Following the Forbes Under 30 Music Festival–which featured Marshmello, Russ and Butterscotch on Sunday night–music took center stage once again yesterday and today as Hozier, Mike Posner, Billie Eilish, Boi-1da, Lauren Jauregui and others graced stages across the fifth annual Under 30 Summit. Couldn’t make it to Boston? Never fear—here are a few of the key highlights and takeaways...

Marshmello, Russ, Butterscotch Kick Off Forbes U30 Summit

Marshmello at the Forbes Under 30 Music Festival in Boston (photo by Nick Farrar).

The fifth annual Forbes Under 30 Summit began with dessert: a music festival featuring two tasty-sounding artists–beatboxer Butterscotch and DJ/producer Marshmello–who sandwiched hip-hop sensation Russ at last night at Boston’s City Hall Plaza.

First up: Butterscotch, who got her start in the traditionally male-dominated underground vocal percussion scene, where she became the world’s first female beatboxing ch...

Remembering Mac Miller, The First Forbes Hip-Hop Cash King To Pass Away

Mac Miller with Steve Forbes in 2011, photographed in the lobby of the old Forbes building on Fifth Avenue.

The first-ever Forbes Hip-Hop Cash Kings list came out in 2007, when Mac Miller was 15. Five years later, the Pittsburgh native made his debut on the list, pulling in $6.5 million on the strength of Blue Slide Park, the first indie album to top the charts in over a decade. Last week, he died at age 26; of the 50-plus hip-hop stars to appear on our Cash Kings rankings over the years, he ...

Diddy’s Earnings: $64 Million In 2018

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs attends the premiere of Fox’s The Four: Battle For Stardom at CBS Studios in California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

Diddy places second on the 2018 Hip-Hop Cash Kings list–our ranking of the world’s top-earning hip-hop artists. Here’s a bit more about his big year.

Real Name: Sean John Combs
Age: 48
Residence: Los Angeles
Estimated 2018 Earnings: $64 million
Source: Music, Spirits, Endorsements

Summary:
After topping our list three years in a row—including last year’...

Jay-Z’s Earnings: $76.5 Million In 2018

Jay-Z and Beyoncé on stage during the On the Run II tour. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Parkwood Entertainment)

Jay-Z claims the No. 1 spot on this year’s Hip-Hop Cash Kings list–our ranking of the world’s top-earning rappers. Here’s a bit more about his big year.

Real Name: Shawn Corey Carter
Age: 48
Residence: Los Angeles; New York City
Estimated 2018 Earnings: $76.5 million
Source: Music, Touring, Spirits, Sports

Summary:
Jay-Z reclaimed hip-hop’s cash crown from Diddy, who held t...

The World’s Highest-Paid Hip-Hop Acts 2018

Nas and Jay-Z: The former rivals are now fellow kings of hip-hop cash. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella)

Months-long tours and endorsement deals with companies such as Sprite and Hennessy enabled the highest-earning hip-hop artists on our annual list to bring in an average $44 million over the past year. Some of them also have acquired lucrative equity stakes, including Nas, 44, who makes the list for the first time a quarter-century after releasing his debut album. A few...

30 Under 30 Alum Afrojack Reveals His Plan For The Next 30 Years

Afrojack and Forbes senior editor Zack O’Malley Greenburg at the Under 30 Summit in Amsterdam.

It’s only fitting that Afrojack kicked off the first-ever Forbes Under 30 Summit Europe with a keynote interview yesterday in Amsterdam: The Dutch DJ was a speaker at the inaugural Under 30 Summit in Philadelphia four years ago. But as he made clear through a wide-ranging half-hour conversation with yours truly, he’s not looking to the past.

“I’m always living in the future, and I’m always analyzing...

Michael Jackson At 60: The King Of Pop By The Numbers

The King of Pop: Jackson performs on stage during the Victory tour in the 1980s.

Were it not for his untimely death in 2009, Michael Jackson would have turned 60 today. The King of Pop was known for his unquantifiable talents, from singing to songwriting to dancing, but he racked up quite a list of impressive numbers over the course of his half century on Earth. Here’s a look at a few.

$4.2 billion: Michael Jackson’s total career pretax earnings, in life and in death, adjusted for inflation.*...