Lil Jon was recently featured on AOL Daily Finance for the creative ways in which he manages his financial holdings. Like other rappers, he doesn't just rely on a weak royalty check to pay his bills. He puts his money into other things that will diversify his streams of income.

The rapper's non-music revenues include a line of sunglasses, an energy drink and wine distribution. Lil Jon estimated that these ventures account for about one=third of his total annual income, which is estimated at $11 million by Forbes magazine. His reasoning? "I want to have something to fall back on, so that's a reason you create these different business ventures. ... I don't want to rap forever." (Daily Finance)

"The products start to really take off when I have an album out because I'm on TV more," Lil Jon told Daily Finance. "Definitely [the non-music revenues] will come up a little more in this album cycle. Who knows, maybe it will get to 50-50."

Lil Jon's decision to spread out his investments was a good idea, given that the music industry is in serious decline. Album sales fell by 12.7 percent last year, with a 20.9 percent decline in the rap category alone, according to Nielsen Soundscan. The music industry is in trouble, so Lil Jon is making a wise move to put his money into industries with increasing growth opportunities.

Lil Jon's strongest side hustle is the Crunk!!!! Energy Drink, which allows the rapper to tap into his niche branding of making the party exciting for everyone in attendance. "Crunk is a word we've been using in the South forever -- it basically means energy. ... Crunk is past tense for crank. Once you crank it, it's crunk. ... It's off the hook, it's crazy." (Daily Finance)

The energy drink venture was started in 2002 with the help of Sidney Frank, who created Grey Goose vodka. The company earns $15 million a year, and Jon gets a cut of that. Some speculate that he gets seven figures for the use of his image to promote the brand.

His business model is a lot stronger and more sophisticated than many other rappers, who sometimes find themselves broke when their careers are over. One concern about Jon's ventures, however, is that many rappers seem to systematically aim for either clothing lines or liquor products, which is a bit stereotypical. While the world definitely needs clothes and liquor, there are other areas in which we can also invest our money.

Lawrence Watkins is the CEO of the Great Black Speakers Bureau. For more information, please visit LawrenceWatkins.com.