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Nas honored some of the most influential MC's in the game at the inaugural Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards.
On Saturday, November 18, the Mass Appeal co-founder took the podium at the first-ever awards show in Las Vegas to present New York City's own Rakim and Houston legend Scarface with the Hip Hop Grandmaster Award. Both iconic lyricists were rewarded with $500,000 each from the Paid In Full Foundation, which was founded by Nas, Steve Stoute, Ben and Felicia Horowitz. Nas began his speech by rapping the lyrics to Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid In Full" before he presented the God MC with his award.
"Yo [Rakim], when I first heard your music, you couldn't tell me in a million years that I'd be on stage saluting you, honoring you, giving you an award my G," Nas said during his speech. "It's crazy. Like this is a rapper's dream. This is a Hip-Hop artist's dream my dude. This don't make no sense. It's not regular. This don't happen. This happened because it's supposed to happen cuz what you laid down, the foundation you laid down."
Other iconic rappers like Ice Cube, Flavor Flav and more were also in the building for the event. The Pain In Full Foundation created the awards show was to honor the legendary artists who helped build the foundation of Hip-Hop and inspired generations of artists with their music. 100% of the net proceeds raised from the annual event will contribute to the foundation's efforts to support Hip-Hop's OGs and their creative initiatives. Stoute first announced the foundation's plans on the Rap Radar podcast during his episode last month.
“Myself, Ben Horowitz, Fab 5 Freddy, QD3, Felicia Horowitz, Ben’s wife — we have a fund, a charity called Paid In Full," Stoute said. "And on November 17, we are honoring those who have led the culture but have not received the financial rewards that are on par with their cultural contribution. We’re giving significant money, a half a million dollars, and health care, to these people who we believe were contributors who didn’t get what they deserved.”
See more scenes from the event below and find out more about the Paid In Full Foundation here.