The lineup spells trouble, but it also tells that the Paid Dues Festival on August 4th at the Secret House Vineyard will be one of the greatest hip-hop festivals to hit Oregon in years. Northwest favorites Brother Ali, Sage Francis, and Mr. Lif will be there, alongside the lesser known Hangar 18 and Cage. Not to mention the notorious do-it-yourself rap phenomenon Living Legends and Felt.
The Paid Dues Festival was created well over a year ago to celebrate underground hip-hop artists who climbed to success using their own two feet. While the associated groups seem to aid each other in beat production, performance power and overall popularity, each group playing at Paid Dues still holds an honorable uniqueness to the rap game that only they can call their own.
Sage Francis, since his 2002 release of “Personal Journals,” stands alone in the acts as a spoken word guru. While his earlier beats were minimal and simplistic, his powerfully written rhymes promoted the Rhode Island-born rapper as a political activist excelling in charisma and intellect. Recently, Sage signed to Epitaph Records, releasing two more full-length albums, the most recent of which is “Do The Human Death Dance,” a harrowing album melding more metal and rock into rap than necessary. But he remains different, cast aside by dance party enthusiasts but worshipped by punk philosophers nationwide.
Mr. Lif adds even more artistic disorder to the Paid Dues line up. Stepping into the underground spotlight in 2002 with “I Phantom,” Mr. Lif caught ears with his industrial samples and heavily layered beats laced with personal lyrics about past life reflection and the return of hip-hop. Hailing from Boston, Lif is a longtime collaborator with Akrobatik, as well as any artist associated with Def Jux records. His newest album, “Mo’ Mega,” features production help from Edan and El-P and lyrical guests such as Aesop Rock and Blueprint.
Blueprint will also be a presence on the show, as he cools off from his extended Soul Position fame with his familiar and funny flows on the group’s “8,000,000 Stories.” Since that acclaim, the artist has been working toward a solo career, releasing three albums in less than two years on Weightless Records while also fulfilling his oral obligation to his other group, Greenhouse Effect. With Blueprint’s squirrelly sound and smart-ass subject matter, the festival will surely get a breath of fresh air from the big-city downtown drama so popular in other artists.
Now we come to the main event, The Living Legends. There’s no way to overstate this band’s success; not only have they managed to release 4 top selling underground albums, but the 9-man orchestra has succumbed to its members’ own side and solo projects, bringing the collective total to 50 full-length albums reaching over 200,000 copies sold. Not only will the crew be the climax of Paid Dues with its packed-stage performance, but Grouch & Eligh, one of The Legend’s most popular side projects, will also be performing its own set, as well as LuckyIam.
To top things off, the Atmosphere and Murs collaboration, Felt, will be appearing as the headlining act. Felt is a fanatical rap syndicate with funny rhymes and attractive beats. Their style remains light-hearted and festive, celebrating the optimism, sarcasm and groove of modern hip-hop. Felt has released 2 albums thus far, both of which seem to poke fun at pop culture with album titles referencing popular actresses (Lisa Bonet and Christina Ricci), on Rhymesayers Entertainment.
With a lineup this large and in charge, there are no doubts that this outdoor festival will be an orgy of improvisational skits, cross-group collaboration and funky fans willing to get down. The bass will be loud, and any speaker tweakers are sure to blow their eardrums with the deafening beats spun by some of underground hip-hop’s greatest producers. This show boasts the tour’s only Northwest date, which no hip-hop fan of any flavor should miss.