a16z|Sep 20, 2026 15:29
Ben Horowitz and Erik Torenberg with Nas, Steve Stoute, and Grandmaster Caz on the Paid in Full Foundation
Caz penned rhymes that became Rapper's Delight. Even with his name in them, he got nothing.
The Paid in Full foundation honors the people who created hip-hop by making sure they're "paid in full," financially, spiritually, and culturally.
As Nas points out, money alone reads as a handout. So the grant comes attached to the honor. Each year at the foundation's Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards, pioneers are celebrated by the artists they inspired.
Caz ultimately received a five-year grant, bought a house, and left the projects. In his words: "The thing is the honor. The thing is putting you in the light that you deserve to be in."
Ben says he bought Paid in Full (the album) for $10 and got at least $5 million worth of value out of the record, with no way to pay it back.
The vision is paying the debt. Felicia Horowitz runs the foundation. She and Ben are matching donations 2.5 to 1, and every dollar goes to the artists.
http://paidinfullfoundation.org
0:00 Intro
1:40 The $10 album that was worth $5M to Ben
3:10 Nas: in hip-hop, you can't just give money
5:05 Why artists thought it was a scam
9:30 Caz wrote Rapper's Delight and got nothing
11:40 Roxanne Shanté: "I wanted the right award"
16:35 Dr. Dre asks to meet Kool Moe Dee and Slick Rick
18:50 Why the industry never did this
26:05 Ben: start with what's right, not what's possible
29:10 Inside the room: Grand Puba, George Clinton
32:15 The Quincy Jones Award
37:00 Scarface and Rakim talk writing for the first time
38:45 Caz: the grant got me out of the projects
43:45 What hip-hop did for Adidas, Hilfiger and Sprite
48:00 How Felicia saved Scarface's life
52:10 Quincy Jones stories, and Nas's jazz legend dad
@Nas @SteveStoute @GrandmasterCaz @bhorowitz @eriktorenberg
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