Many rappers try to convey a certain lifestyle of material success.
These artists don't want to just talk about watches, jewels, and stacking paper.
They also want to walk the walk, too.
But it doesn't always work out like that.
Here are some big-talking rappers who've gone totally broke.
For 50 Cent, cash flow at one point seemed to be endless.
In 2015, the New York Post reported he'd sold almost 30 million albums, made a reported
$60 to $100 million on his investment in Vitamin Water, had endorsement deals with companies
including Reebok and Right Guard, and owned a successful record label and clothing company.
The Washington Post estimated his net worth at half a billion dollars in 2010.
When 50 Cent filed for bankruptcy in 2015, he was making $185,000 a month, but $72,000
of that went to his 18-bedroom house which is far from his only monthly expense.
While he admitted at the time to have recently bought a Rolls-Royce, he said most of the
cars, jewelry, and jets he showed off on social media were actually borrowed or rented.
But his big problems came from the illegal stuff he did.
As part of a feud he had with rapper Rick Ross, he decided to shame the mother of Ross'
child in a truly disgusting way.
50 Cent purchased an adult tape of the woman, added a voiceover making fun of her, and put
it online without her knowledge or consent.
A judge ordered him to pay $7 million in damages.
He was also found guilty of copying his G-Unit headphone design from another company, and
a judge made him pay $17 million for that transgression.
50 Cent immediately filed for bankruptcy, saying these judgments plus other debts exceeded
his $25 million net worth.
According to Rolling Stone, he settled his bankruptcy case in 2016, promising to pay
$23 million to his creditors over five years.
MC Hammer probably had good reason to think the good times would never end.
His 1990 album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em is one of the best-selling hip-hop albums
of all time.
Forbes estimates that at the height of his success, Hammer's net worth was around $33
million.
But just six years after the release of his super-successful third album, he filed for
bankruptcy in one of the most famous celebrity financial disasters of all time.
First, there was the $30 million mansion, then there were the costs of what is possibly
the most epic entourage ever.
Hammer employed 200 people on his payroll, reportedly to the cost of $500,000 every month.
But Hammer told Oprah Winfrey that the real charge of maintaining such an operation could
be, quote, "a million dollars a month at times."
When he filed for bankruptcy, he said he had a 36-page list of several hundred creditors.
"There were no books written or no map to follow receiving 20 million or 30 million
dollars at one time."
Hammer maintained that he didn't blow the money solely on himself, but rather spread
it around to too many other people.
Still, in 2011 he told Oprah that he wouldn't go back and change anything, even if he could.
He believes in the butterfly effect, and that if things had been different, he wouldn't
have his kids, or the peace that he has now.
Lil Kim wasn't lying in her song: It really has been all about the Benjamins for the rapper.
Or rather, a lack of them, since she's reportedly had plenty of trouble paying her mortgage.
CNBC reports her bank first started foreclosure proceedings on her New Jersey mansion in 2010,
and in 2015, the two parties were still trying to work things out.
But by 2017, a judge ruled that she'd had her chance.
A year later, according to the Los Angeles Times, the bank foreclosed on the property,
and Kim filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection.
Besides being over $650,000 behind on her house, she owed the IRS more than a million
in back taxes.
TMZ adds that she was $186,000 behind on legal bills and was $4 million in the hole overall.
In 2018 she said she was making about $18,000 a month, but out of that she had to budget
$2,000 for her staff, another $2,000 for her wardrobe, and $10,000 for travel.
Kim was desperate to save the mansion she bought in 2002 and filed to stop it going
to public auction with the opening bid set at just $100.
But the mortgage company said she was still missing payments.
Kim had a major setback when the court decided she was in so deep that legally she was too
broke to qualify for Chapter 13's specific type of bankruptcy.
Bow Wow, formerly Lil' Bow Wow, started releasing music when he was 13.
Since then he's had hit records and done some acting, so you'd think he'd have a decent
amount of cash saved up over the years.
But that couldn't be further from the truth based on what he told a judge in 2012.
According to TMZ, during a child custody case, Bow Wow informed the court he made just $4,000
a month and only had $1,500 in his bank account.
He also leased a relatively modest car.
That might be because four years earlier, he leased a Ferrari F430 and within months
was behind on payments.
The leasing company came for their money and Bow Wow got stuck with a bill of over $200,000.
He didn't pay it, and by 2012, interest took the total to almost $300,000.
By 2017, he still appeared unable to afford the lifestyle he thought he should project
online.
The Daily Beast reports that he posted a picture of a private jet on Instagram with a caption
heavily implying he was going to fly to New York in it.
But then someone saw him flying commercial and posted a picture to Twitter.
Another internet detective discovered the picture of the private jet was actually from
a Florida company's website.
In 2018, he described money as being, quote, "evil" and claimed he was giving his away
to fans.
So don't worry about him going broke maybe it's all going according to plan.
TLC formed in 1991 and by 1994 they had two hit albums, three Number 1 singles, and two
Grammy awards.
But while their professional lives might have been at an all-time high, their personal lives
didn't always reflect that.
This was especially true for the rapper of the group, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.
In the early 90s, Lopes was dating football player Andre Rison, and to outside observers,
their relationship was far from functional.
At one point, Lopes said Rison abused her, although charges relating to the claims were
eventually dropped.
On June 8th, 1994, Rison and Lopes got into a massive fight in their home.
Things reportedly got physical on both sides, leading to Lopes grabbing some of his new
sneakers and setting them on fire in a bathtub.
The fire got out of control, and soon the whole house was in flames.
"We all stop what we were doing and we looked up, black smoke just rollin', just rollin'"
Amazigly, Lopes skated by with a $10,000 fine and probation for an arson charge.
Rison even forgaven her, and their relationship continued.
But the mansion was insured by Lloyd's of London, and they were a lot less forgiving.
The Guardian says the $1.3 million claim the company filed against Lopes forced her and
indirectly, the rest of the group into bankruptcy.
New York rapper DMX had five Number 1 albums and was one of the most successful hip-hop
artists of the late 1990s.
But despite the money that must have been flowing in at one point, his finances turned
into a disaster.
BET says he filed for bankruptcy in 2009 but was denied by the court because he had, quote,
"unreasonably delayed" the case.
Things apparently didn't get better, since he tried again in 2013, with his manager saying,
"[DMX's] financial strains have been inhibiting his career for several years [because of]
poor financial management by prior representation."
DMX said he only had $50,000 in assets, earned as little as $1,677 a month, and was between
$1 million and $10 million in debt, with obligations including $21,000 on a leased car and a whopping
$1.24 million in child support.
But the judge threw out this bankruptcy filing as well, citing inconsistencies that made
DMX seem untrustworthy.
DMX then filed yet another time in 2016.
This time he said he owed even more money, had nothing in his bank account and no assets
at all, except his house, which he was trying to save from foreclosure.
Finally, in 2018, the IRS came for the $2.29 million DMX owed them, and he ended up spending
a year in jail for tax evasion.
"I thank God for my problems as much as I thank him for my blessings because they're
equally relevant to my life."
Nas has had a long and successful career, showing up on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
nearly two dozen times between 1994 and 2018.
He married fellow artist Kelis in 2005, but things went south pretty fast.
By 2009, she had filed for divorce while pregnant with their first child.
Whatever bad things went on in their marriage, Nas' terrible financial situation became clear
during the divorce.
Essence says that while settling on the child support amount Nas would contribute, the rapper
claimed he owed his manager $700,000 and the IRS millions.
But he was still required to pay over $50,000 a month in support.
He really might not have had the money, though, because before they were even divorced, Kelis
said Nas wasn't fulfilling his obligations.
The judge ruled he owed her $300,000 in back child support and alimony, according to DJ
Booth.
But Nas claimed paying the amount would bankrupt him.
His lawyer argued he made, quote, "substantially less" than the $150,000 Kelis claimed Nas
pulled down a month.
He had to set up a payment plan to afford the bill.
Then in 2012, Nas lost his Georgia home when he failed to make mortgage payments.
The bank took it and sold it at auction.
Kelis wasn't the only ex not getting paid, either.
TMZ reported the mother of Nas' daughter took him to court in 2014 and said he was a "repeat
criminal non-supporter" who owed her more than $11,000 in child support.
Fat Joe released 10 albums before his first run-in with the tax man in 2010.
At that time it was only $105,000 owed to the state of New Jersey, which he was able
to pay back before facing major consequences.
But by 2012, things had gotten a lot worse.
Despite earning over $3 million in 2007 and 2008, Joe decided to not pay the more than
$700,000 he owed the IRS on it, according to USA Today.
He faced up to two years in prison, but before he was sentenced, he worked hard to pay the
bill, simultaneously working to shore up his image with charitable donations.
Reuters says Joe also accepted the blame, saying while there was, quote, "a lot going
on" the years he failed to file, it was still his responsibility to do so.
In addition, more than 60 people sent in letters on his behalf, testifying to the quality of
his character.
Joe still served four months in prison.
Perhaps the worst consequence of his behavior was that his 6-year-old daughter was taunted
in school about her dad going to jail.
But his daughter's woes must not have had that much of an effect on him since in 2016
he once again found himself in hot water with the IRS.
This time he owed $1.1 million.
In a 2019 interview, Joe implored young rappers to have a solid business plan and not to repeat
mistakes he made, like spending millions of dollars on jewelry and private planes.
"I wish somebody I really respected would have really explained to me the importance
of budgeting that money right."
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