By Chris Richburg
North Carolina-based rap group Little Brother, Sage Francis and Living Legends will be among the acts taking the stage at this year's Paid Dues independent Hip-Hop festival.
The third annual event, which will take place March 22 at the Nos Event Center in San Bernardino, California. will showcase underground artists from various regions around the country.
Other entertainers scheduled to perform include Dilated Peoples, Jedi Mind Tricks, Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Kool Keith, Boot Camp Clik with Black Moon, Kool Keith, Pos, A-Team, Mac Lethal, Fatlip and Omni, Yak Ballz, B. Dolan and Isaiah.
"Being that it's a festival birthed on the west coast, we wanted to tailor the bill to appeal a little more to the region so we brought on local staples such as the A-Team, Omni and Fatlip. To knock it out of the park, we added the three major west coast crews Living Legends, Hieroglyphics and the Visionaries."
More than 5,000 people attended the first Paid Dues festival in 2006. The sold-out event, which was held at the Shrine Expo Center in Los Angeles, featured performances from Felt, Aesop Rock Living Legends, El-P and Hangar 18.
Felt and Living Legends returned the following year as Murs teamed up with Guerilla Union to present the 2007 Paid Dues festival tour.
"We also wanted to show some love to the decorated veterans of the independent scene so we reached out to Boot Camp Clik and Kool Keith," Murs added.
Pre-sale tickets for the 2008 Paid Dues Independent Hip-Hop festival are available today (Jan. 25) on www.myspace.com/paidduesfestival for $35.
Tickets will officially go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday (Jan. 26) for $40 at Ticketmaster online and other locations.