On April 2, I attended the Paid Dues Festival in San Bernadino, CA hosted by L.A. rapper Murs and music promotion company Guerilla Union. The one day hip hop festival included over forty hip hop artists and acts. Notable acts included Murs, Immortal Technique, Bun B, Dead Prez, Asher Roth, Heavy Metal Kings, Slaughterhouse, E-40, Mr. FAB, Tabi Bonney, and Dom Kennedy. Artists performed on three stages: the Paid Dues, Dues Paid, and the Grind Time Now stage.Local (Chicago) rapper Hollywood Holt acted as the host of the Festival for the Paid Dues stage.
The show was held at the National Orange Show (NOS) Events Center, a large fairground demarcated by a lagoon that runs through the fairground. Two large stages (the Paid Dues and the Dues Paid stage) were placed across the fairgrounds. The Grind Time Now Stage was located in Orange Pavilion, a large hall where acts performed in a Mixed Martial Arts octagon cage. A VIP event was held in the Valencia Ballroom, where fans could meet artists Murs, Asher Roth, Bun B, Slaughterhouse, Immortal Technique, and Sage Francis.
There were approximately a dozen vendors at the show, ranging from local t-shirt staples such as Acrylick , Streetwise , Soterik, the clothing. The t-shirt and art company, the radio station 93. 5 KDAY, Grimm records, Hieroglyphics (the rap group), Source Magazine, Camel cigarettes, and of course, Murs, who had his own tent selling his merchandise, manned by his parents and siblings. There were also several food vendors present, selling everything from pizza, gyros, tacos, ice cream, and of course, beer.
At the show, I did my best to see all of what I considered to be "notable" artists; (Dead Prez, Mr. FAB, E-40, Immortal Technique, Sage Francis, Slaughterhouse, Heavy Metal Kings, Bun B, Tabi Bonney, Dom Kennedy, and of course Black Star) while I was able to see most of the artists, I was not able to catch them all. I think the best way to review the artist's performances is to review the ones I did see one by one:
Black Hippy: I came in on the end of their performance, so I don't think it's right for me to comment on it; however, I went on Youtube to check out a few of their videos, and what I found it that group members Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Ab-soul, and Schoolboy Q definitely have some skills lyrically. Kendrick Lamar's flow bears a striking similarity to Jadakiss; Schoolboy Q delivery is a mix between the Game and Young Buck; Jay Rock has a deep voiced flow reminiscent of Styles P, and Ab Soul despite a look resembling Eazy E with his fluffy Afro and black sunglasses, has a nasal flow that's very similar to T-3 of Slum Village.
Bun B: Seeing the Trill O.G. was a real treat; while Bun Beater didn't perform many of his classic songs ("Big Pimpin" and "International Players Anthem" were the only two I counted) he brought his hard Texan drawl and forceful energy to each song, making songs like "Get Throwed" "Keep on Pushin'" "Sipping on Some Sizzurp" and "Gimme that P***y" sound as good as classics such as "Too Hard to Swallow" "A Pocket Full of Stones" and "Front, Back, Side to Side".
Dead Prez: Stic-man and M1 performed hit the stage this year with a especially politically tinged message in their music; they stormed the stage stating their views against the war in Libya ("Fuck Obama, no more bombing Libya" to paraphrase the duo). Dead Prez performed such hits "Turn off that Bullshit, Turn off the Radio" and "It's bigger than Hip Hop" but their main focus was to promote their new album, "RBG: The Workout Plan"; performing the song "Get Swoll Like Tookie Williams". They also advocated exercise, proper dieting, and establishing a self-sufficient society as the new definition of "gangster".
Slaughterhouse: Joell Oritz, Joe Budden, Royce da 5'9, and Crooked 1 rocked a packed crowd in the octagon stage in the Grind Time Now stage. In a packed crowd where weed smoke wafted through the air freely, Slaughterhouse performed their hits such as "Sound Off", as well as their own solo hits ("Boom"-Royce da 5'9, "Pump it up"-Joe Budden, for example. They also performed songs representing their geographical locations-Joe Budden performed Naughty by Nature's "Hip Hop Hooray", which he elicited crowd participation in; Joell Ortiz performed Notorious B.I.G's "Hypnotize", and Royce da 5'9 performed Eminem's "Lose Yourself". Crooked I took a different turn by having the DJ play Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Nate Dogg's "The Next Episode", as a tribute to the recently deceased Nate Dogg. And the end of their performance, Slaughterhouse gave three fans in the audience a chance to perform one of Slaughterhouse's songs; however, none of them were able to finish the song without stumbling over the lyrics.
Hollywood Holt: Chicago hipster-hop rapper Hollywood Holt kept the crowd at the Dues Paid stage engaged for the duration of the show by running across the stage passing out "shots" of Vodka to crowd members of age (he made sure to check their wristbands) and yelling the lyrics to songs that DJ Bizzy spun during intermission, hip hop classics such as Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize", Crucial Conflict's "Hay", and Bone Thug-N-Harmony's "Thuggish Ruggish Bone". Holt also introduced the crowd to some of his rhyming skills, performing a rapid fire freestyle that drew applause from the audience. In the four years I've been attending Rock the Bells/Paid Dues shows, Holt is has been my favorite hype man (no disrespect to Supernatural).
Murs: I came in late on Murs performance, as I was in the Slaughterhouse show. By the time I got to the Dues Paid stage, he was performing on the with his rock band Young MC's "Bust A Move" to a packed crowd. He then, in honor of the recent liberation of Egypt, he performed the Bangles "Walk Like An Egyptian". While a different turn from the normal Murs show (which showcase his hip hop songs) this one was still entertaining and somewhat refreshing after hearing hours of murder/death/kill and smoker's rap.
Black Star: Last but definitely not least, Mos Def and Talib Kweli performed for a packed and weary crowd on the Paid Dues stage at 1045p. Mos Def hit the stage holding a red microphone, wearing a pageboy cap, and a blue jean jacket with a tie; Kweli wore his standard black leather jacket and baseball cap. The duo performed classic Black Star hits such as "Ghetto People" and "Astronomy"; however, the tempo of the show quickly switched over to the Mos Def show, as Mos Def began to perform songs off of "The Ecstatic", such as "Auditorium" and "Casa Bey". Regardless, it was still a treat to see them performing together again; like many, I'm waiting for a follow up to the first Black Star Album.
In short, the Paid Dues festival was a great experience; great music, good vendors, most of the attendees were genial (the Paid Dues show was the first place I've been where weed smoking was more liberal than alcohol). If you can make it, it is definitely a must attend for those who love hip hop.
