Nas, Grandmaster Caz, Steve Stoute & Ben Horowitz on Paying Hip-Hop’s Pioneers Their Due
September 20, 2026
AI Summary
5 min read"You Have to Start With What's Right"
The Paid in Full Foundation exists because hip-hop's pioneers—the people who created one of the most influential musical art forms in history—never received the recognition or financial rewards that matched their impact. Ben Horowitz, who credits hip-hop lyrics with giving him the ideas that built his career in Silicon Valley, realized he had no way to pay back the value he got from a $10 album. So he called Steve Stoute, who told him the idea was timely because people were talking about the problem but nobody was doing anything. Then he called Nas, who warned that a simple charity model wouldn't work: in hip-hop, you can't just give somebody money. It has to come with recognition of who they are and what they did.
The Mechanism: Honor Before the Check
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **The Problem Hip-Hop Faces** - Ben Horowitz opens by stating the core mission: honoring the people who created hip-hop and ensuring they are "paid in full" financially, spiritually, and culturally.
- 2 (04:12) **The First Recipients and the Problem of Distrust** - Scarface and Rakim were chosen as the first honorees, but the initiative faced immediate skepticism from the community.
- 3 (07:47) **The Story of Grandmaster Caz** - Ben Horowitz explains why Caz is a prime example of a pioneer who was wronged by the industry.
- 4 (10:12) **The Joy of Honoring the Right People** - The panel discusses the emotional reward of selecting and celebrating deserving artists.
- 5 (15:50) **The Foundation as a Unifying Force** - The foundation has become a "class reunion," breaking down the ego and separation that the industry created.
- 6 (19:18) **Why Financial Support Must Accompany Recognition** - The group contrasts the foundation's approach with other attempts to honor hip-hop.
- 7 (22:33) **The Courage to Fund the Mission** - The conversation turns to the unique source of funding for the foundation.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Ben Horowitz and Erik Torenberg sit down with Nas, Grandmaster Caz, and Steve Stoute for a conversation about the Paid in Full Foundation and its mission to recognize and support the pioneers who built hip-hop.
Ben, Nas, and Steve share how the foundation began, why simply giving artists money wasn’t enough, and how the Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards became a way to pair financial support with the recognition many foundational artists never received. Caz brings the perspective of one of those pioneers, reflecting on his role in hip-hop’s earliest history and what receiving the award has meant for his life and legacy.
They also discuss the enormous cultural and commercial impact of hip-hop beyond music, from language and fashion to some of the world’s biggest brands, why so many of its pioneers captured so little of that value, and what happens when generations of hip-hop finally come together in the same room.
Resources:
Learn more about the Paid in Full Foundation: https://paidinfullfoundation.org
Follow Nas on X: https://x.com/Nas
Follow Grandmaster Caz on IG:https://www.instagram.com/grandmastercaz07/
Follow Steve Stoute: https://linkedin.com/in/stevestoute
Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz
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