Lil Wayne’s incredibly successful 2011 was very good to his bank account. The hip-hop superstar checks in at number five on Billboard’s list of music’s Top 40 Money Makers with just over 23-million dollars. Weezy can credit a large part of his financial success to his hit album “Tha Carter Four.” The record posted the second-biggest sales week of the year with 964-thousand copies sold.

Lil Wayne also sold more than 12-million digital songs thanks to hits like “Six Foot, Seven Foot,” “How to Love,” and “She Will.” Life on the road was also good to Wayne, as his “I Am Still Music” tour pulled in 44-point-seven-million dollars. Wizzy fans check out WayneHQ

Other artists making Billboard’s list include Rihanna at number 22, Usher at number 30, and Kanye West at number 39. Pop-country superstar Taylor Swift tops all artists with earnings over of more than 35-million dollars.

Here’s the top 10…

1. Taylor Swift – $35,719,902

2. U2 – $32,116,315

3. Kenny Chesney – $29,837,103

4. Lady Gaga – $25,353,039

5. Lil Wayne – $23,178,722

6. Sade – $16,382,809

7. Bon Jovi – $19,813,232

8. Celine Dion – $14,261,515

9. Jason Aldean – $13,409,011

10. Adele – $13,081,909

 Lil Wayne will be kicking off a partnership with one of the most popular soft drinks in the country. Billboard.com says the rap superstar is teaming up with Mountain Dew to create the DEWeezy campaign, which gets under way this week at the South by Southwest music festival. The campaign will include advertisements, public appearances and the building of a skate park in Weezy’s hometown of New Orleans. There may also be a touring component to the DEWeezy campaign. A spokesperson for Mountain Dew declined to discuss details about the campaign, noting that they will be revealed this week.

Lil Wayne went from saying he is the Best Rapper Alive to he wants to be the Best Skater Alive. I’m sure a lot of you won’t be happy about that. Anyways, in the video above you can watch some unseen clips from Weezy skateboarding at different skateparks. Enjoy!

“I promise you this day next year, I will be… not 10 times better, not 100 times better, not a million times better, but the best!”