Kurtis Blow, the rapper who made history with “The Breaks” nearly five decades ago, will be honored Saturday as the Paid in Full Foundation holds its fourth annual Grandmaster Hip Hop Awards at Bellagio's Tower Ballroom. The 5:30 p.m. gala is stacked with hip-hop heavyweights, including Nas, Ice Cube, Grand Puba and Reverend Run, who are expected to perform or appear alongside honorees collecting awards for shaping the genre's history.
The scheduling and lineup details come from a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which notes that comedian Jay Pharoah and rap pioneer Roxanne Shanté will host the evening. Blow, now 67, was the first rapper signed to a major label, Mercury, and the first to go gold as a solo artist, with “The Breaks” in 1979, according to the same report. He was 20 years old when that record hit gold.
A Lifetime Beyond the Mic
Blow's résumé extends well past his recording career. He produced the Fat Boys, founded the Hip Hop Church in 2004 — which the Review-Journal's report says has since grown to dozens of locations nationwide — and serves as chairman emeritus of the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx. He has also worked with the National Hip Hop Museum in Washington, D.C., and is developing museum projects in the U.K., Germany and France, per the same report.
Blow has described his life's work simply, saying hip-hop is “speech with a beat,” per the Las Vegas Review-Journal's report. He also works with the Hip Hop Alliance, a labor organization pushing for fair wages, royalties, and health and retirement benefits for hip-hop and R&B artists. Born Kurtis Walker, he once DJ'd under the name Kool DJ Kurt before his early manager, Russell Simmons — who went on to co-found Def Jam Recordings — suggested the Kurtis Blow moniker that stuck. The article notes Blow is weighing a move to Las Vegas and, per the report, is considering a Las Vegas residency in January.
Honorees Spanning Generations
Blow won't be the only name recognized Saturday. The D.O.C., legally known as Tracy Lynn Curry, is set to receive the main Grandmaster Award after rising to prominence in the late 1980s by co-writing tracks for N.W.A, Eazy-E and Dr. Dre. Ralph McDaniels will take home the Contributor Award; he co-created and hosted Video Music Box in New York City in the early 1980s, a show the outlet's report describes as the world's longest-running music video program.
Nile Rodgers of Chic will receive the Quincy Jones Award, which honors individuals and groups credited with laying hip-hop's cornerstone. That trophy carries extra resonance this year given its 2025 history — at last year's gala, held Oct. 18, 2025 at Bellagio Resort & Casino, funk icon George Clinton became its inaugural recipient, according to Billboard. That same gala saw Kool G Rap and Grand Puba honored as headliners, with Kool Rock Ski of the Fat Boys and Jalil Hutchins of Whodini sharing the inaugural Contributor Award.
Stage Packed With Pioneers
Beyond Nas, Ice Cube and Reverend Run, the 2026 bill includes DJ Battlecat, Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Caz, Mr. Wiggles and the Syncopated Ladies, according to the Review-Journal's reporting. Nas also sits on the Paid in Full Foundation's board, adding a personal stake to his expected appearance. Roxanne Shanté returns in her hosting role after serving in that same capacity at the 2025 gala, where performers included Ludacris, Mobb Deep's Havoc, Babyface, Nas, Rakim and Kool Moe Dee, as Black Enterprise reported.
Why a Venture Capitalist Started a Hip-Hop Charity
The Paid in Full Foundation was founded in 2022 by Ben and Felicia Horowitz and is headquartered in Las Vegas. Ben Horowitz co-founded the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz with Marc Andreessen, a detail that underscores the foundation's unusual pairing of tech money and hip-hop history. Per the Paid in Full Foundation, its grantmaking program exists to honor the people who built hip-hop while enabling them to pursue creative and intellectual projects they might not otherwise afford.
The foundation says it focuses on recognizing significant hip-hop figures who have lacked due recognition or financial reward for their contributions to the genre. According to the foundation's site, all net proceeds raised from Saturday's event will directly support that mission of empowering hip-hop pioneers and other creatives.
Blow's Opening Set Carries Into the Holidays
Blow's reach extends into the holiday season too. The Hip Hop Nutcracker, which launched in 2013 as a rap spin on the holiday classic, is currently in rehearsals for a tour of roughly 30 shows at major theaters across the country in November and December, per the Review-Journal's report. The production includes a live DJ and an opening hip-hop set from Blow himself, tying Saturday's Bellagio tribute to a run of shows still to come this winter.
