The Paid in Full Foundation will honor legends Rakim and Scarface with $500,000 and healthcare during their first annual Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards. The foundation was created by Nas, Steve Stoute, Fab 5 Freddy, QD3, Ben Horowitz, and his wife, Felicia Horowitz. Steve Stoute made the announcement on an episode of Rap Radar.
Stoute said, “Myself, Ben Horowitz, Fab Five Freddy, QD3 [and] Felicia Horowitz, Ben’s wife, have a charity fund called Paid in Full. On November 17th, we are honoring those who have led the culture but have not received the financial reward that’s on par with their cultural contributions. We’re giving significant money – half a million dollars – and healthcare to these people who we believe were contributors who didn’t get what they deserved… on November 17th in Vegas [to] Scarface and Rakim… What I want to do is all of the artists who had come early [in the Hip Hop game] who had to sign bad deals or got taken advantage of that the least we could do is give to them [and] pay that forward. No one’s ever done this before. No one’s given the people who’ve helped move this industry forward reparations of some sort for what they’ve done but didn’t get back…”
The Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards is coincidentally timed to Hip Hop 50. Stoute mentioned that the celebration wasn’t intended to be in alignment with the Hip Hop 50, especially since a lot of corny things were surrounding it. Regardless, the foundation has been two years in the making so the Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards will be the first of many.
It isn’t clear if Rakim and Scarface will split the $500,000 nor are the details about the healthcare that will be provided as stated in HipHopDX; however, this is a great example of giving people their flowers while they’re alive to receive them.
While Felicia has her Instagram settings on private, Nas, Rakim, Scarface, Steve Stoute, Fab 5 Freddy, QD3 and Ben Horowitz do not have any promo or mention of the event on their Instagram. It looks like there was some sort of mention on Instagram that HipHopXD linked to their article but the post has been deleted. Nas and Stoute have a post of Stoute’s Rap Radar interview on their profiles that do not mention the foundation. Since the event is sold out, perhaps all parties believe there is no need to mention the award ceremony on Instagram until the day of or after November 17th despite how it may look to fans and supporters.
How do you feel about the Paid in Full Foundation? Are you excited about the first annual Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards? Is there an artist you want to be honored in the future? Let us know in the comments and on social media.