It's crazy that none of these artists pay taxes. You'd think that since most of their money comes through their labels at some point, that they'd have it set up to be taken out automatically like any other job in this country.
That said, a lot of those dudes weren't as broke as the article made it seem. I don't think Common, Meth, Swiss, or Nas are broke. They might be in debt, but most people in this country are in debt. As long as they can bring in a steady income they have a chance of turning things around. The article seems to place them base on whether or not they have dropped a successful album to generate new income. The problem is they don't really need that to make money. Meth tours and does shows all the time. Most artists make more money off of that than albums anyway, so he's making money that could be used to push him back into the black. It's all about whether he's smart enough to to do the right thing.
Two side notes:
1) Pro athletes are way worse. They make way more money, have more access to financial advising, and have more dependable income, yet a lot of them still wind up broke.
2) As slow as people try to act like Southerners are, it's funny that the majority of the lists are cats from up north.