The Paid In Full Foundation has honored Rakim and Scarface with the inaugural Grandmaster Awards. According to Vibe, Ben Horowitz, the foundation's co-founder, opened the awards with reflections on the rap industry and its humble beginnings.

“The people in the music industry didn’t want to play it on the radio or sign anyone, it was an ‘against all odds’ kind of idea," he said. "The most amazing thing is that they did it anyway. They created the most important musical artform in the last 50 years with a whole culture behind it– dance, fashion, everything.”

The foundation's mission statement says that the foundation aims to correct historic wrongs experienced by some of the genre's most influential artists. "Unfortunately, many of the most impactful original artists never received recognition proportional with their exceptional contributions to arts and culture. The Paid in Full Foundation aims to rectify that through its grant making 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."

The Grandmaster Awards were held at Las Vegas' Keep Memory Alive Event Center, and were hosted by Fab 5 Freddy and New York Times best-selling author Shaka Senghor. Nas, and Ice Cube gave speeches honoring Ra and Face, while Gayle King, actor Terry Crews, Flavor Flav, Doug E. Fresh, and Rap-A-Lot Records founder J. Prince were among the celebrities in attendance.

The Hip-Hop Grandmaster Award includes a financial stipend for the recipients in an effort to "empower the artists to further their creative and artistic endeavors.” Horowitz curated the event along with the Paid In Full board of directors, which include Ben’s wife Felicia Horowitz, Steve Stoute, Michelle Ebanks, and producer Quincy Jones III. The selection committee which aids in choosing award recipients is comprised of an advisory board consisting of Nas, Fab 5 Freddy, and Ralph McDaniels of Video Music Box.

Regarding the honor, Rakim told Vibe, "I'm really at a loss for words. A lot of things go through your head, you know? Sacrifices and decisions that I made. I always considered myself an underground artist, because I never really had big radio records. So, you get to the point where you realize, you doing it for a cause, and you’re not doing it for the money. It’s a blessing man, that things like this come along."

Scarface spoke about his honor as well. “I’m at a loss for words. I’m really grateful that people would even consider me to receive something so prestigious as a Grandmaster."