PAID IN FULL
The Paid in Full Foundation’s inaugural gala honored hip-hop legends Scarface and Rakim Friday (11/17) at the Keep Memory Alive Event Center in Las Vegas. Hosted by Fab 5 Freddy, the event boasted several notable guests, including Flavor Flav, Gayle King, Mark Davis, James Prince, Alice Johnson and Frank Cooper.
The hours-long soirée also featured a fireside chat with Shaka Senghor, producer Steve Stoute, Scarface and Rakim plus award presentations by Ice Cube and Nas. Meanwhile, D Smoke, IDK, Kool DJ Red Alert, Frenchie Davis and Doug E. Fresh delivered special performances and Quincy Jones III and Video Box founder Ralph McDaniels presented a video celebration of “50 Years of Hip-Hop” and In Memoriam dedication.
Founded by Ben and Felicia Horowitz, the Paid In Full Foundation aims to acknowledge the "artistic brilliance" of those who've impacted the industry while providing a financial stipend to empower them to continue their creative and artistic endeavors.
“The story of hip-hop is a story of young people who saw something that they could do that would change the world, something they could create that would make everyone's life different," Ben Horowitz said in his opening statements. "It was a crazy idea but they decided to do it at tremendous risk to themselves. The people in the music industry didn't want to play it on the radio, or sign anyone, it was an ‘against all odds’ kind of idea, but the most amazing thing is that they did it anyway.
"They created the most important musical artform in the last 50 years with a whole culture behind it– dance, fashion, everything. Even with those giant contributions that created millions of jobs and careers, and made some people billionaires, they didn't get rewarded anywhere near in proportion to what they did. Paid In Full was created to fix it.”
For the Paid In Full Foundation's inaugural year, the honorees were chosen by a group of individuals made up of select members of the Board of Directors: Felicia Horowitz, Ben Horowitz, Michelle Ebanks, Quincy Jones III and Stoute as well as the Advisory Board: Nas, Fab 5 Freddy, McDaniels and Anthony Saleh.
Future recipients will be determined by the Selection Committee, which will consist of prior award recipients and select members of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board.
Pictured below thanking Big Baby Jesus nobody from HITS showed up are (l-r) Fab 5 Freddy, Terry Crews, Scarface and D Smoke. Kool DJ Red Alert and Rakim appear above.
