Eminem crowned king of hip-hop

Eminem has beaten Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg to be crowned the world's most successful rapper.

The Stan hitmaker has been named as the king of hip-hop by Rolling Stone magazine, with editors tallying up album sales, social media hits and critical acclaim since 2009.

Eminem garnered 7.5 million record sales, 1.3 billion views on YouTube.com, and has five million Twitter followers - putting him way above his peers.

Lollipop hitmaker Lil Wayne came second in the countdown, followed by relative newcomer Drake at three, Kanye West at number four and legendary 99 Problems superstar Jay-Z in fifth.

Other rappers to make the top ten include Nicki Minaj - the only female MC on the list - Rick Ross, Ludacris, Gucci Mane and T.I.

Most surprisingly, Snoop Dogg lags behind at number 11.