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.
Jones asked Clinton to rap the verses to Eric B. and Rakim’s “Follow the Leader,” to which Clinton replied, “Oh man you’re not gonna make me do it in front of him?” Despite the brief protest, Clinton proceeded to spit every single word to the classic track to the audience’s amazement. It wasn’t long before Rakim emerged from backstage and joined Clinton for the final verse.
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.
“George Clinton is one of my main motivations and what I grew up to,” Dre said. “Forty years this year, I started in 1985. This summer marks 40 years that I’ve been doing this thing. In the beginning of my career and my childhood and everything was based on this man right here. Everything that I’ve done, studied… all the drums and all the instruments that this man did inspired me to do what I’m doing right now, and I’m just so appreciative. It’s all love.
“These guys [Rakim and George] are responsible for changing music the way it was and the way it is right now. You know how crazy it is for somebody to go into the studio and change the way we listen to music? These two gentlemen did.”
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 honoree 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.
The Paid in Full Foundation’s primary purpose, as stated on its website, “aims to rectify that through its grantmaking 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.”
All net proceeds raised from the Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards directly support The Paid in Full Foundation’s mission to “empower Hip-Hop pioneers and other creatives.” Read more about it here and enjoy a photo of George Clinton arriving in a motorized wheelchair below.
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