The Paid In Full Foundation has honored Rakim and Scarface with an amount of $500,000 during the inaugural Hip-Hop Grandmaster Awards held in Las Vegas on November 17, 2023.
According to a statement from the organizers, “The Hip-Hop Grandmaster Awards, will not only honor Rakim and Scarface but also empower them to continue shaping the artistic landscape.”
The foundation also listed Nas and its founders, Ben & Felicia Horowitz, as people to be recognized for their efforts in curating cultural celebrations.
Ben Horowitz noted that the Paid In Full Foundation was created “to honor foundational Hip-Hop artistes who made colossal contributions to the art form and society as a whole.”
Ben went on to say: “In addition, the foundation aims to enable these legendary heroes to continue sharing their brilliance with the world. We are ecstatic that Rakim and Sacrface will accept our Grandmaster Award this year.”
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Michelle Banks, a member of the Board of Directors of the foundation, also indicated that she is inspired by the foundation’s mission to recognize transformative artists whose profound impact on cultural tapestry deserves celebration. “I’m truly inspired by the Paid in Full Foundation’s mission to recognize transformative artists whose profound impact on our cultural tapestry deserves celebration,” she said.
According to her, the Hip-Hop Grandmaster Awards exemplifies the foundation’s commitment to ensuring that influential voices receive the recognition and support they deserve, allowing their legacies to resonate with the generations to come.
Another executive of the foundation, Steve Stoute, shared how he got involved with the foundation. He said that the fund and the healthcare benefits are for legends who “didn’t get what they deserved”.
Stoute added that the idea is to compensate artistes who were active during the early days of HipHop but ended up signing bad deals or were taken advantage of.
According to Paid In Full Foundation’s website, “Over the past several decades, Hip Hop music and culture rose from a local niche New York art form into a global phenomenon.
In doing so, it has created countless careers, fortunes, and, most importantly, gave hope and aspiration to a generation of young people.
Unfortunately, many of the most impactful original artists never received recognition proportional to their exceptional contributions to arts and culture. The Paid in Full Foundation aims to rectify that through its grant-making program, by both honoring the people who built Hip Hop and enabling them to pursue their creative and intellectual pursuits for the benefit of society.”