Nas, Grandmaster Caz, Steve Stoute & Ben Horowitz on Paying Hip-Hop’s Pioneers Their Due
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Why does the Paid in Full Foundation believe hip‑hop pioneers need both recognition and financial support?
I think in life it's impossible to do anything great if you start with what's possible. You have to start with what's right. Hip-hop's not that big. Like, the guys who made the art form are not that many. And so why can't we honor them?
Acknowledging and celebrating and then bringing this group of people together is something that the industry should have done a long time ago. When people see me
and they see my passion, this nigga still got it. He's still doing it because I have to. Hip hop don't have social security. You
have to work. The whole thing about hip hop is about to grow to be better. And I think we are living our lyrics. We're paid in full.
I want everybody to know around the world what Grandmaster Kaz looks like and to celebrate him and applaud this man for what he's done. and celebrate Roxanne and celebrate Melly and the DOC and everybody else who's had these achievements. The thing is the honor. The thing is putting
you in the light that you deserve to be in. If you're watching this and love hip-hop.
Hip-hop changed music, fashion, language, and culture. But many of the people who built it never received the recognition or financial rewards that matched their impact. In this episode, Ven Horowitz and I sit down with Nas, Grandmaster Kaz, and Steve Stout to tell the story behind the Peyton Full Foundation and its mission to honor hip-hop's pioneers. We discuss why the foundation pairs financial support with recognition, what happens when generations of hip-hop artists come together, and why giving these artists their flowers is about more than an award. And Kaz shares what that recognition has meant firsthand, from his place in hip-hop history to how Paid in Full helped change his life.
So this is the first time this group has gotten together to publicly talk about the Paid in Full Foundation. Kaz, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. So Ben, why don't you introduce the foundation and maybe let's get into the origin story as far back as you want to go as to how this came to be.
Yeah, so Paid in Full is an organization meant to honor the legacy of the people who created one of the most important musical art forms of all time, hip-hop, and make sure that they're paid in full financially, spiritually, and culturally. And the idea kind of started with me, Stephen Nas. So it always bothered me that I... bought, paid in full, the album for $10, and I got, in my career, and people in tech know this, I probably got at least $5 million worth of value out of that record, but there was no way to pay it back, and it needed to be paid back. And so I had the idea originally, and I called Steve. Steve and I have been friends for many, many years, and I said, Steve, I have this idea. What do you think?
And he said, well, it's not only a good idea, but it's a very timely idea because people are talking about this right now, but they're not doing anything. So if you listen to the podcast, people are saying, oh, these rappers, these old guys, they don't have any money, they're dusty, that this, that that, and all these kinds of things. And these are very, very important guys, but nobody's doing anything. And so I thought, well, let's do something. And then the next call I made was to Nas. And Nas had a great insight because a lot of the concept, our dear friend, all of our friend Quincy Jones had a thing called the Jazz Foundation where he would get money to the old jazz guys. And I told it to Nas and Nas said, that's not going to work that way in hip hop.
Because in hip-hop, you can't just give somebody money. It has to be more than that. It has to be a recognition of what they did and who they are. And so that's when we got the idea of, well, let's have... a big award show, have this idea of the Grandmaster Award for the true greats of hip-hop, and then invite everybody to honor these guys. And we started it off with two all-time greats, Scarface and Rakim.
Well, I'll just
add to that,
if you don't mind. Before we even got to the first show, It was also timely because Scarface was going through a medical condition.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why does the Paid in Full Foundation believe hip‑hop pioneers need both recognition and financial support?
0:00–5:17
2
How did Ben Horowitz, Steve Stoute and Nas conceive the Paid in Full Foundation and its mission?
5:17–10:59
3
What inspired the creation of the Hip‑Hop Grandmaster Awards and how were the first honorees chosen?
10:59–17:53
4
Why did early award recipients initially doubt the program, and how was trust earned?
17:53–24:31
5
How has receiving a Paid in Full award changed Grandmaster Caz’s life and legacy?
24:31–32:55
6
In what ways has hip‑hop shaped fashion, language, and global brands, and why were its pioneers under‑compensated?
32:55–40:29
7
How does the foundation fund its work, match donations, and keep operations volunteer‑driven?
40:29–50:07
8
What are the foundation’s upcoming plans, upcoming award recipients, and how can listeners get involved?
50:07–57:05