Montana Diary

Guerilla Union in association with Murs 3:16 put tickets on sale Friday for their second annual Paid Dues Festival scheduled for March 24th in the Orange Pavillon at NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California (paidduesfestival.com). The event headlines some of the giants of the indie Hip Hop scene including Felt, a recent conglomeration of Ant and Slug from Atmosphere and Murs. Other acts include Sage Francis, Blackalicious, Brother Ali, Jean Grae, Visionaries, Mr. Lif, Cage, and Zion I & The Grouch. Flyers also promise other surprise guests.

Last year's Paid Dues was undoubtedly a success. In 2006, Murs discussed his inspiration for the event. "After going on the Vans Warped Tour a few years back, I thought it would be great to do something similar for our fans-something outdoors during the day and at a great price, making it a refreshing change for our die-hard fans who are used to seeing us in the dark dank nightclubs. At the same time, it's a great and inexpensive introduction to live Hip Hop for the young fans."

Last year's Paid Dues definitely delivered on that vision, it was truly a warped tour for Hip Hop heads. However, the event did have a couple setbacks. Cage, feeling the crowd, dove into a sea of arms during his set and was almost kicked out by a confused security team when he tried to get back on stage. It took several fans to convince them that Cage was the talent meant to be on stage. Concert goers also did not appreciate Chingo Bling's set, confronting him with thrown bottles and boo's forcing him to end prematurely. But from most reviews, these seem to be the only hitches in an otherwise spectacular event.

Performers this year are also united by more than just past artistic collaborations and overlapping crews. The event has an ****** and message for the Hip Hop community. Soren Barker of the L.A. Times wrote about the event, "Don't let the often redundant and routine rap songs and videos played on commercial radio, BET and MTV fool you. There's a vibrant rap scene with advanced lyricism, stinging political commentary and quality DJ performances that continues to flourish in a seemingly parallel universe, largely shunned by the mainstream media." Paid Dues in '07 may prove then to be more than a fun event, but signify a return of Hip Hop to politicized, insightful, and sophisticated lyricism.

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