In hip-hop, perhaps no man is busier than Jay-Z. Along with his successful career as an artist, he is also a successful businessman with many different business endeavors. In his spare time, he helps up-and-comers on the scene that he has hand-picked for their potential. While it doesn’t seem like he would have much time (or energy) left over to give back, Jay-Z shows why he has been labeled an “icon” by also participating in various charitable events.

The latest event that the Jiggaman has picked to be a part of is the pet project of fellow music star Alicia Keys. Keys and Hov worked together recently on the massively popular single “Empire State of Mind,” which espouses both artists’ love for New York City. Each year, Alicia Keys holds the Black Ball NY, and this year’s event-the seventh of its kind-takes place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Sept. 30. Keys recently released a statement saying that Jay-Z would be on hand for the event, as would Sade.

The Black Ball NY benefits Key’s Keep a Child Alive organization. KCA works to benefit families in Indiana and Africa struggling with HIV/AIDS. In May, a similar concert event was held in Europe, Black Ball London. The 2009 version of Keys’ fundraisers had 1,000 guests and raised $2 million for the charity. In the statement on the event, Keys also hinted that many more names would be added to this year’s event as the date draws closer. Fans who can’t attend this event can catch Hov live by getting Jay-Z tickets online.

All of Hov’s hard work is paying off, evidenced by his ranking on a few important lists recently. The first was Forbes’ list of “The World’s Top Earning Musicians.” Jay-Z landed at number six on the list with earnings of $63 million. That includes money he made through both his music career and other business endeavors. Proving that he and his wife Beyonce are truly the power couple of music, she out-ranked her husband and was number three on the list. Also beating Jay-Z were U2, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen and Britney Spears.

Billboard.com recently released its list of the top earning tours from Nov. 28, Kamagra Soft 2009 through June 19, 2010. Jay-Z came in at number 13 on the list with a gross of $25,441,505. AC/DC topped the list with $118,077,772, more than doubling the total of the second-place finisher, Bon Jovi.

Around the same time, Pollstar.com also came out with two tours lists: “Top 100 North American Tours” and “Top 50 Worldwide Tours.’ Jay-Z did well on both, which isn’t a surprise considering his worldwide following. The lists take into account dates held from Jan. 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010. On the North American list, Jay-Z was 12th with a total of $22.5 million, which came from 21 dates in 21 cities. A couple of overseas shows added to that total for the worldwide list, on which Jay-Z was 23rd with a total gross of $24.2 million from 23 shows.

Author Bio: This article was sponsored by StubHub.com. StubHub sells tickets to sporting events, concerts and theater productions. Go to StubHub.com for Jay-Z tickets.

Category: Music
Keywords: Jay-Z, music, concert, tickets, rap, hip hop