Ice Cube Salutes The D.O.C. As Paid In Full Honors Hip-Hop Pioneers

The D.O.C. received a salute from Ice Cube as Paid In Full Foundation brought its latest class of Hip-Hop pioneers to Las Vegas.

The 4th Annual Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards took place at the Bellagio, where roughly 500 supporters gathered in the Tower Ballroom, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Roxanne Shanté and Jay Pharoah hosted the evening.

Kurtis Blow joined The D.O.C. as a Grandmaster honoree. Nile Rodgers received the Quincy Jones Achievement Award, while Ralph McDaniels received the Contributor Award. The Review-Journal also reported a five-year, $500,000 grant as part of the awards program.

Ice Cube introduced The D.O.C. and praised his influence on West Coast rap. Referring to “It’s Funky Enough,” Cube said, “He asked, ‘Y’all ready for this?’ and we weren’t.”

The D.O.C. said he urged Snoop Dogg to become great after the 1989 car crash that damaged his voice. He also expressed interest in using AI to restore the sound of his recorded vocals.

That interest predates the gala. In an AllHipHop interview last year, The D.O.C. discussed AI as a possible path toward new music. His business partner, Chris Gannett, connected that possibility to decades spent guiding other artists in the studio, including Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

The same interview took place during the launch of plans for the Dream Experience Academy in Dallas. The D.O.C. and Gannett aimed to help students in grades seven through 12 explore work in music, gaming and technology.

Saturday’s honors also reached across the culture’s early records and television history. Blow’s “The Breaks” became the first gold-certified rap single in 1980. Rodgers’ work with Chic helped supply the sound behind “Rapper’s Delight,” while McDaniels helped bring rap to television through “Video Music Box.”

The foundation’s approach pairs recognition with money.

In a September a16z discussion, Nas, Grandmaster Caz, Steve Stoute and Ben Horowitz explored why financial help alone did not fully address what rap’s pioneers had missed. The awards also gave those artists public recognition.

Music closed the Las Vegas celebration. Johnny Gill performed “My, My, My,” and Rodgers took the stage with Chic. Grandmaster Caz joined a performance that brought “Good Times” together with “Rapper’s Delight.”