# Paid in Full Foundation gives legends five-year grants _Paid in Full gives five-year grants to hip-hop pioneers who never got paid for work that built billions._ **Published:** 2026-11-08 **Source:** https://www.startuphub.ai/ai-news/investors-news/2026/paid-in-full-foundation-gives-legends-five-year-grants --- Five years with no strings attached. That is the grant the Paid in Full Foundation gave each honoree in Las Vegas, as reported by [a16z Blog](https://www.a16z.news/p/hip-hop-has-no-social-security-paid) from the Bellagio Tower Ballroom. Pioneers Never PaidDriverhip-hop pioneers built billions but never got paid for worksparksPaid In Full FoundationCorestarted 2022 by Ben and Felicia Horowitz in Las VegasFrom the article 2 mentionsThat is the grant the Paid in Full Foundation gave each honoree in Las Vegas, as reported by a16z Blog from the Bellagio Tower Ballroom.offersFive Year GrantsContextfive years with no strings attached back pay not charityenablesLegends Finally SupportedOutcomegrandmaster caz left projects after first checks arrived per reportcoversGrants Fund Real NeedsOutcomepast recipients used aid for homes medical bills unfinished recordsDebt Framed PlainlyDriverten dollar album gave Horowitz five million in value per reportFrom the articleBen Horowitz framed the debt in plain numbers.Model From JazzContextFrom the articleThe model takes its cue from Quincy Jones and the Jazz Foundation, but it stretches emergency aid into multi-year support that past recipients used for homes, medical bills and unfinished records, per the report.Rapper's Delight SalesDriverFrom the articleSugar Hill counted at least that many sold for "Rapper's Delight," which became hip-hop's first Billboard Top 40 hit, per the report.Pioneers Never PaidDriverhip-hop pioneers built billions but never got paid for worksparksPaid In Full FoundationCorestarted 2022 by Ben and Felicia Horowitz in Las VegasFrom the article 2 mentionsThat is the grant the Paid in Full Foundation gave each honoree in Las Vegas, as reported by a16z Blog from the Bellagio Tower Ballroom.offersFive Year GrantsContextfive years with no strings attached back pay not charityenablesLegends Finally SupportedOutcomegrandmaster caz left projects after first checks arrived per reportcoversGrants Fund Real NeedsOutcomepast recipients used aid for homes medical bills unfinished records It is back pay, not charity. The effort dates to 2022, when Ben Horowitz and Felicia Horowitz started it, as noted in a post by investor Brian O'Shaughnessy. The model takes its cue from Quincy Jones and the Jazz Foundation, but it stretches emergency aid into multi-year support that past recipients used for homes, medical bills and unfinished records, per the report. Ben Horowitz framed the debt in plain numbers. He paid $10 for Eric B. and Rakim's Paid in Full and got at least $5 million in value, per the report. Grandmaster Caz lived the other side of that math while still in the projects until his first checks arrived, per the report. Consider what two million copies meant. Sugar Hill counted at least that many sold for "Rapper's Delight," which became hip-hop's first Billboard Top 40 hit, per the report. Big Bank Hank rapped Caz's lines verbatim, down to Caz spelling his name, and Caz never got royalties or songwriting credit, per the report. Chic got a different outcome on the same record. After "Good Times" was lifted, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards hired a lawyer who knew where financier Morris Levy's bodies were buried and won publishing and royalties, per Rodgers in the report. It took some Sugar Hill rappers nearly forty years and decades of litigation to recover what they were owed, per the report. The D.O.C. shows the West Coast version. He was promised 35 percent of Death Row Records, valued at $100 million in 1996 by [Vibe](https://www.startuphub.ai/startups/vibe), yet he says Eazy-E gave him a gold chain for his publishing and he never got the stake, per the report. Kurtis Blow, Kool G Rap, Grand Puba and Video Music Box creator Ralph McDaniels were among this year's honorees, per the report. What the numbers do not show is scale. Grant amounts, total paid out and selection odds are not disclosed in the report. One audited total would change the read from moving nights in Vegas to a durable fix. How many other rhyme books are still paying someone else? --- Original analysis from [startuphub.ai](https://www.startuphub.ai), the #1 AI startup directory. © StartupHub.ai. All rights reserved. You may not republish this article in full without a license. Search engines and AI research tools may crawl and summarize for reference. Bulk reproduction or model training on this content requires a license. See https://www.startuphub.ai/terms.