The Paid in Full Foundation held its third Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards on Saturday night (October 18) at the Bellagio’s Tower Ballroom in Las Vegas.
Anyone graced with an invite was likely overwhelmed by the sheer number of legends in the building—from Nas, Dr. Dre, Ludacris and George Clinton to Scarface, Rakim, Fab 5 Freddy and Mobb Deep’s Havoc. Needless to say, there were some unforgettable moments that will live forever—especially on social media. One of the highlights of the evening was a panel hosted by Paid in Full Foundation Board of Director Quincy Jones III that featured Babyface, Scarface and the first recipient of The Quincy Jones Award, George Clinton.
Moments later, Dr. Dre—who built his 1992 masterpiece The Chronic on numerous Parliament-Funkadelic samples—surprised the crowd and praised Clinton for not only his contribution to music but to Hip-Hop specifically. That was only a sliver of the magic happening inside of the Tower Ballroom. Everyone in attendance had gathered to honor this year’s Hip Hop Grandmaster Award recipients Grand Puba of Brand Nubian and Kool G Rap as well as fellow honorees Jalil of Whodini and the Fat Boys’ Kool Rock Ski.
Former Yo! MTV Raps host Fab 5 Freddy interviewed several people from the red carpet, including Luda, Van Jones, Kool Rock Ski, George Clinton and Scarface. The evening’s host, Roxanne Shanté, spit freestyles, DJ Cool V cheered from his table, Kool G Rap mingled with friends, Havoc rapped his verses from Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones II” and Nas performed “Made You Look” (among others). Past Hip Hop Grandmaster Award honouree Kool Moe Dee was also joined by Fearless 4 MC Mike C and crew for another electric performance. The event effortlessly illustrated both the strength and resilience of the Hip-Hop community while simultaneously raising money for a good cause. Many of the most influential and trailblazing Hip-Hop artists never received recognition proportional to their contributions the culture.