Yo, hit the decks because it’s about to get wet up in ‘dis boat! After last year’s Rock the Bells where curators thought it’d be a good idea to go way of the hip-bone and add our buds Ninjasonik as well as Spank Rock, Santogold, Flosstradamus and the Cool Kids to the bill, I’m glad the fest has taken to its roots once more. Although I love our boys unconditionally and it was so dope that they had the chance to appear, I like my bells to be rocked by the voices of hip-hop liberty and I’m not so down to shell out the big bucks for artists that can be seen any other time for free in a more intimate environment. This being said, lets get down to business.
Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley
The Roots
Common
Big Boi (Outkast)
KRS-One
Slum Village
House of Pain w/ all original members
Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli + Hi Tek)
Tech N9ne
RZA
Raekwon
Sage Francis
Slaughterhouse (Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Royce Da 5′9,” Crooked I)
M.O.P.
Chali 2na (Jurassic 5)
Necro
Eyedea & Abilities
Evidence
Psycho Realm
Mystic Journeymen (Sunspot Jonez + Lucky I Am)
Mickey Factz
Tabi Bonney
Hosted by:
KRS-One
Supernatural
Murs
Pete Rock
The festival will take place in Toronto, Washington D.C., Boston, New York, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Vancouver. Each stop will feature 25 acts on two stages, a vendor village, surprise performances and more.
I caught KRS-One when he hosted the East Village Radio Music Festival last Summer and although, of course, it isn’t the same vibe as catching the roots hip-hop hero back in the day – probably due to the amount of Girl Talk fans in the audience wanting to “whoop whoop” – he is still THE man. I’m wondering if Bert and Ernie will make a special appearance for M.O.P. (as shown in the video atop). Big ups to our homies at the Tape for attending the press conference and emailing us immediately about the news.
In other news, Zac Efron will be hosting this week’s SNL with his favorite band…the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? This is almost as weird as Miley Cyrus / Hannah Montana covering Radiohead (thanks PMA).
The YYYs “Zero” has now been remixed by MSTRKFRFT, N.A.S.A., and Animal Collective. The first two mentioned are below while we wait for Deakin’s take to appear on the single’s 7″ as a b-side. If you’ve ordered the record from Insound already then you’ve got a collectible freebie coming to you.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (N.A.S.A. Bloody Lobo Remix)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Poster for Rock The Bells ‘09, after the jump.
Very nice information. Thanks for this.