So the line up for this years Rock the Bells Festival has been released. A Tribe Called Quest will be reuniting (again) to headline. Since they were supposed to “reunite” last year at the same festival and only Phife came out, I’m still skeptical but who knows… maybe since they are on as the headline they’ll come through. I’m glad they dropped Wu-Tang as a full and just kept Rae & Ghost as a set then put Red & Meth together. I’m hyped to finally see Rakim live, as well as the Pharcyde. Kidz in the Hall, the Cool Kids, Wale and Santogold were dope additions. And despite the negative reviews for Jay Electronica’s live show, I’m still excited for it.

READ: Nas, Pharcyde, Tribe, De La Soul, Rae & Ghost To Rock The Bells! [via HipHopDX]

Last year, Shake and HipHopDX put together a mixtape full of music from all the artists that would be attending the Paid Dues Festival. Slimm (our usual DJ) had issues and couldn’t take care of it, so I mixed the thing myself in a few hours and we got it to press. We titled it Independent As F*ck and printed up thousands of them. We passed them out at the show, put it up for free download, etc. The response was great. Now a year later and Paid Dues was in full effect once again. I didn’t get to attend because of A3C being the same weekend but it’s all good, DX was definitely a presence! We had DJ El.K mix this years tape and there’s music from all the artists that were on the bill. From Murs to Little Brother, Sage Francis to P.O.S., Boot Camp Clik, Dilated Peoples, Hieroglyphics and much more. Enjoy!

Tracklist + Download link after the jump…

1. Wordsmith – Intro
2. Busdriver – Ethereal Driftwood
3. Yak Ballz – Scifentology
4. Mac Lethal – Walking On Nails
5. Fatlip – What’s Up Fatlip?
6. Murs – Ups & Downs f. Supreme (prod. Embassy the Hitmaker)
7. P.O.S. – Audition Mantra (prod. P.O.S.)
8. Boot Camp Clik – I Need More (prod. 9th Wonder)
9. Dilated Peoples – Huh Ha f. Redman
10. Evidence – Searching 4 Bobby Fisher
11. Dilated Peoples – The Platform
12. Hieroglyphics – You Never Know (Domingo Remix)
13. Kool Keith – Defenders of the Underworld
14. Little Brother – The Becoming / Sincerely Yours (Live)
15. Jedi Mind Tricks – Retaliation (rmx)
16. P.O.S. & Slug – Ice Cream (Hotels)
17. Visionaries – Strike
18. Non-Prophets – The Masters are Back
19. Jedi Mind Tricks – Blood Runs Cold f. Sean Price
20. Hieroglyphics – Heat
21. Visionaries – Meeting of the Minds f. Living Legends
22. Little Brother – Nobody Like Me f. O-Das

DOWNLOAD: HipHopDX Presents: Independent As F*ck 2 (Mixtape) [or STREAM]