Inside Hip Hop’s Most Exclusive Reunion

For Scarface, Grand Puba, Rakim, and Roxanne Shanté, Paid in Full is about more than recognition. It’s a chance to hear how the music, artists, and relationships that shaped hip-hop are still connected decades later.

In this conversation from the Paid in Full celebration, the four honorees trade stories about the records that changed them and the moments when they first heard one another’s music. Scarface and Grand Puba remember hearing Rakim for the first time and realizing something had shifted, while Rakim recalls recording “Eric B. Is President” and being repeatedly asked to put more energy into the delivery that would become unmistakably his.

They also reflect on what recognition means after decades in hip-hop, the distrust many pioneers developed after years in the music business, and how Paid in Full has created a community among artists from different generations and regions. Scarface shares how the foundation supported him through serious health challenges, while Grand Puba looks back on helping create Mary J. Blige’s “What’s the 411?” and seeing its impact endure more than three decades later.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:47 Shanté introduces the legends
03:51 How Felicia Horowitz got Scarface into heart surgery
06:19 The call from Steve Stoute, and meeting Ben Horowitz
08:42 Keeping the secret: how honorees find out
12:45 Like “A Great Day in Harlem”: the gala from the outside
16:47 Grand Puba, Mary J. Blige and “What’s the 411?”
18:56 “I Seen a Man Die,” and why Scarface stepped back from writing
23:58 “How does it feel to be the best MC in the world?”
26:22 Hearing “Eric B. Is President” for the first time
32:48 Taking the tape to the Parliament

Resources:
Follow Scarface: https://www.instagram.com/brothermob/
Follow Grand Puba: https://www.instagram.com/therealgrandpuba/
Follow Rakim: https://www.instagram.com/thegodrakim/
Follow Roxanne Shanté: https://www.instagram.com/imroxanneshante/
Learn more about the Paid in Full Foundation: https://paidinfullfoundation.org

The Paid in Full Foundation honors the pioneers who built hip-hop and helps ensure they receive the recognition and financial support their contributions deserve.

Learn more about the Paid in Full Foundation: https://paidinfullfoundation.org

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