The tour - which promises to be an annual concert series - blends seasoned talent with up and coming young lions fierce in their commitment to quality music, the importance of independent media, and the ongoing fight for social justice.

"The idea here is to provide a platform for artists to be seen and heard who have important voices that have been marginalized," says Guerrilla Funk CEO Paris. "All too often certain segments of hip-hop are focused on by the mainstream that don't accurately or adequately reflect us or our communities. This is a perfect way to counteract that, and to provide balance to an art form that has become increasingly corporatized and diluted for mass consumption."

The Hard Truth Soldiers Tour 2009 is one of several projects Paris is currently working on.

His Guerrilla Funk Recordings recently released his latest album, 2008's critically-acclaimed Acid Reflex, featuring Chuck D. and George Clinton.

GFR also recently released one of the first albums by a female hip-hop group in recent memory, The Nutcracker Suite, by The Conscious Daughters, and 2 new Paris-produced albums are set to be released on May 12, T-K.A.S.H.'s Brains All Over the Streets and Paris Presents: Hard Truth Soldiers, Vol. 2.