ROCK THE BELLS 2009 FESTIVAL SERIES
IN ASSOCIATION WITH BUDWEISER
GUERILLA UNION ANNOUNCES
COMMON TO MISS ROCK THE BELLS SHOW IN TORONTO!
MOS DEF ADDED TO LINEUP THIS SUNDAY, JULY 5 IN TORONTO AT MOLSON AMPHITHEATRE!!
ROCK THE BELLS 2009 FESTIVAL SERIES -- North America’s only major touring hip-hop festival--will be in Toronto, ON this Sunday, July 5 at the Molson Amphitheatre. Festival promoter Guerilla Union regrettably announces that Common will no longer be able to perform at this Sunday’s show due to a scheduling conflict with a film he is currently shooting. He will, however, appear at all remaining scheduled dates.
Guerilla Union sent out a call for help and is excited to announce that Mos Def has stepped up for the cause. He will be flying in directly from the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland to take part in what promises to be a legendary day in hip-hop. "We are genuinely humbled that Mos Def would fly in all the way from Europe on short notice to fill in for Common,” states Chang Weisberg of Guerilla Union. “Toronto hip hop heads are in for a real treat. He's out promoting his new album and we were blessed enough to have him make it here to Canada. We know he is excited to showcase his new material. When hip hop gives you lemons, make lemonade." Mos Def will be performing new songs from his recently released, critically acclaimed album The Ecstatic, as well as all of his classic material. Mos Def will join previously announced performers Nas & Damian Marley (performing new music from their upcoming collaboration Distant Relatives, as well as solo material from each), Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek (Mos Def’s Blackstar family, who will be performing as Reflection Eternal), Big Boi from Outkast performing all the hits, Somali born, Toronto native K'Naan, RZA from The Wu-Tang Clan, the legendary EPMD, Slaughterhouse with Royce Da 5’9”, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, and Crooked I, a newly reunited Slum Village featuring T3, Baatin, and Elzhi, M.O.P., Tech N9ne, Chali 2na, The Knux, and hosts KRS-One, Supernatural and Pete Rock.
ROCK THE BELLS, presented by Guerilla Union since 2003, has established itself as a world-class hip-hop platform by hosting legendary performances by Rage Against the Machine, Jay-Z, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, Public Enemy, Lauryn Hill, Blackstar (Talib Kweli and Mos Def), Hieroglyphics, Living Legends, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, Cypress Hill and Jurassic 5 as well as reuniting Wu-Tang for their last performance with ODB in 2004. In 2008, ROCK THE BELLS toured internationally for the first time in Prague, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Helsinki, Paris and London.