Top 10 highest earning female hip hop artists

1. Beyonce Knowles

As a solo performer, Knowles has had five Hot 100 number one singles and four with Destiny's Child. After going solo, she has sold over 35 million albums and singles in the U.S that when combined with the group, have surpassed 100 million. On December 11, 2009, Billboard listed Knowles as the most successful female artist of the 2000s decade and the top Radio Artist of the decade. She was also listed by the RIAA in February of this year as the top certified artist of the decade. According to Forbes magazine, Knowles earned $80 million between June 2007 and June 2008, combined with her album, tour, fashion business, and promotional deals.

Net Worth: $150 Million 

2. Missy Elliott

Respect M.E. was Missy Elliot’s first greatest hits album. It was released outside the United States and Canada on September 4, 2006, only in South Africa, Australia, Europe, Japan, and Brazil. The collection became her second top ten album in the UK and her highest charting album to date, peaking at number seven there.It has been certified Gold for sales of over 100,000 units in the UK and 500,000 copies world wide. The album became available in Best Buy stores in the US in 2007. 

Net Worth: $150 Million

3. Queen Latifah

Latifah released her first album All Hail the Queen in 1989, when she was nineteen. That year, she appeared as Referee on the UK label Music of Life album "1989—The Hustlers Convention (live)". In 1998,  she released her fourth hip-hop album Order in the Court after which she has shifted from rap to singing lyrics in soul music and jazz standards. She released the soul/jazz standards The Dana Owens Album in 2004. Three years later, Latifah sang at the famed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as the front act in a live jazz concert. She was backed by a 10-piece orchestra in front of a crowd of more than 12,400. She performed new arrangements of standards including "California Dreaming". In 2007, Latifah released an album entitled Trav'lin' Light which was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" category.

Net Worth: $50 Million

4. Rihanna

Recorded on the Billboard Hot 100 are seven number-one singles by female artist Rihanna. She first appeared on the chart on June 11, 2005 and has continued since each time a single is released. She holds the most number of appearances by any artist during that time span.As of July 23, 2010, Rihanna has sold approximately 5,563,000 album units in the US. She has received several awards, including the 2007 World Music Awards for World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist and Female Entertainer of the Year, as well as the 2008 American Music Awards for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. She also serves as one of Barbados's honorary cultural ambassadors.

Net Worth: $25 Million

5. Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill is described by most as the mother of hip-hop invention. With her 1998 solo debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, she not only established herself as a creative force on her own after leaving her group the Fugees, but also broke new ground by successfully mixing in rap with soul, reggae, and R&B into her music. In the late 1990s, she was noted by some as a humanitarian. She received an Essence Award for work in 1996 which has included the 1996 founding of the Refugee Project, an outreach organization that supports a two-week overnight camp for at-risk youth, and for supporting well-building projects in Kenya and Uganda, as well as for staging a rap concert in Harlem to promote voter registration. In 1999, she received three awards at the 30th Annual NAACP Image Awards and was named one of "100+ Most Influential Black Americans" along with Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and others among the "10 For Tomorrow," in the EBONY 2000: Special Millennium Issue.

Net Worth: $20 Million

6. Lil Kim

Kimberly “Lil Kim” was musically influenced by fellow rapper The Notorious B.I.G. She began her music career in 1995 with the group Junior M.A.F.I.A., whose debut album Conspiracy produced three hit singles. She released her solo debut album Hard Core. It became a certified double platinum and gave us the hits "No Time" and "Crush on You". Her following albums, The Notorious K.I.M. (2000) and La Bella Mafia (2003), were also largely successful.

Net Worth: $18 Million

7. Kelly Rowland

Rowland became famous along with Beyonce in the late 1990s as one of the founding members of the girl group Destiny's Child. Her total record sales, when combined with the group, have surpassed 60 million. While the group took a break, each concentrating on their solo careers, Rowland collaborated with rapper Nelly on the single "Dilemma" and it became a worldwide number-one hit. She then released her rock pop-influenced solo debut Simply Deep in 2002 and it became a commercial success, selling more than two million copies worldwide. She also garnered more  successful singles, namely "Stole" and "Can't Nobody". When Destiny's Child finally disbanded in 2005, Rowland's second album, Ms. Kelly, was released in 2007. It produced the hit singles "Like This" and "Work", and was re-released the following year. In 2009, she had another number-one hit with her contribution on French DJ David Guetta's single "When Love Takes Over".

Net Worth: $18 Million

8. Eve

Born as Eve Jihan Jeffers on November 10, 1978), she began her career as a hip-hop and R&B artist. Her first three albums reached a total of over 8 million albums sold worldwide. She also achieved success in fashion when she started a clothing line called "Fetish." She ranked number 48 on VH1's "50 Greatest Women Of The Video Era" show list.

Net Worth: $18 Million

9. Ciara

Ciara’s debut single "Goodies" reached number one in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. The album with the same title followed sold over five million copies worldwide. The album also produced two other hits: her second number one in Canada, "1, 2 Step", and "Oh". Her second album, Ciara: The Evolution, was released two years later in 2006; and it gave birth to the hits "Like a Boy" and US hits "Get Up" and "Promise". Selling over two million copies worldwide, the album was another success.  Ciara released her third album, Fantasy Ride, which featured the hit "Love Sex Magic", in 2009. Her fourth studio album titled, Basic Instinct is reported to be released on October 5, 2010 with the singer returning to her urban roots, preceded by the lead single, "Ride", released on April 26, 2010.

Net Worth: $16 Million

10. Li’l Mama

Born in Harlem, New York. Li’l Mama later moved to Brooklyn where she attended high school in Edward R. Murrow. In 2006, she signed a recording contract with Jive Records. In the summer of 2007, her first single Lip Gloss was released and became her breakout hit. It peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. In February 2008, her third single Shawty Get Loose was released. She recorded it with T-Pain and Chris Brown. The single brought her back to the Hot 100 top ten. Two months later, her debut album VYP (Voice of the Young People) was released. Lil Mama later became a judge on America's Best Dance Crew for the whole five seasons.

Net Worth: $6 Million