Purple City 'The Purple Album' album

Harlem’s own Purple City movement returns to the spotlight with its new release, The Purple Album. Consisting of core members Shiest Bub “The Emperor,” Un Kasa and Agallah “The Don Bishop,” the Purple City movement is infamous for its storied mixtape collaborations with Cam’ron, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones and other Diplomat crew mainstays. The Purple Album further highlights the tight-knit affiliation between emerging crossover phenomenon Jim Jones, the Dipset family and the burgeoning Purple City street movement. This album features long-awaited, fresh material from this thriving street phenomenon at the epicenter of the Harlem, NY-based Dipset movement.

After watching their Road To The Riches: The Best of the Purple City Mixtapes soundscan over 40,000 records independently, and their French collabo album Paris to Purple City perform well in the international market, Shiest Bub and company return with their highly-anticipated follow up. With dozens of mixtapes circulating, a stronger focus on quality songwriting and neck-snapping production, as well as a sizable dosage of purple haze by their side, the gang seems set for a hostile takeover.

The album features Jim Jones, former Hot Boy B.G., Max B., Brooklyn’s own Boot Camp Click and more. With production in tow from multi-platinum producers Dame Grease (DMX, Nas), Derrick “D Dot” Angelettie (Biggie, Jay-Z), Scram Jones (Mariah Carey, Lloyd Banks), as well as resident boardsman Agallah, and even Shiest himself, The Purple Album is gearing up to be the next evolutionary stepping stone for Purple City.

Biography

“I’m just happy to have the opportunity for my music to come out. And I’m gonna push my own shit regardless of any fucking label, because that’s what I do. That’s why the labels even fuck with me, period; because I put in my own legwork.”
- Shiest Bub “The Emperor”
President & CEO—Purple City Productions

No matter how many Oscars the movie racks up, Terrance Howard can rest assured he’s not the only cat riding hard with some hustle and flow. Purple City, a New York City-bred trio of pungent, piffery toking, hip-hop journeymen are the living embodiment of hustle. And flowing, well, that’s just something that they do cause they can do it, and they do it well.

After watching their 2005 debut Road To The Riches: The Best of the Purple City Mixtapes soundscan over 40 thousand records independently, and their French collabo album “Paris To Purple City” perform well in the international market, group members Shiest Bub “The Emperor,” Agallah “The Don Bishop,” and Un Kasa return with their highly anticipated full-length follow up- The Purple Album AKA Born to the Purple (Babygrande/KOCH Records). With dozens of mixtapes circulating, a stronger focus on quality songwriting and neck-snapping production, as well as a sizable dosage of purple haze by their side, the gang seems set for a hostile takeover. They even brought some reinforcement.

“The new album is executive produced by Jim Jones, co-executive produced by myself,” says CEO Shiest Bub, a Dip Set affiliated Harlem native. “.” Bub contends that Diplomats capo Jim Jones, who he ironically befriended years ago through countless weed smoking sessions, helped him decide how to write the songs on The Purple Album, as well as the types of beats he should rhyme on. “He gave me a lot of guidance as far as making my records and choosing the sound that I wanted to go with.”

While Bub credits Jones for helping him make some of those decisions, he acknowledges that it was more about him opening up from a creative standpoint and exploring new sounds that led to his more refined presence. “I don’t really like what’s in style,” he says. “I had to choose what’s going to be better for me to grow as a rapper. On the first album I rhymed with this deep pitched voice. It was basically me trying to give off this vision of a voice being spoken to you from a higher source. I’m the emperor. It is that voice of wisdom. If my fans can appreciate this right here, then what I’m gonna give them in the future is gonna be awesome. I stepped it up.”

If Shiest sounds like he’s a bit self-centered, it’s because this time around the focus is largely on him. Adding to the weight he carries as CEO of Purple City Productions, Bub’s now taken on a much larger role as an artist, rhyming on just as many records (if not more) than his counterparts Un Kasa and Agallah. With production in tow from multi-platinum producers Dame Grease (DMX, Nas), Derrick “D Dot” Angelettie (Biggie, Jay-Z), Scram Jones (Mariah Carey, Lloyd Banks), as well as resident boardsman Agallah, and even Shiest Bub himself, The Purple Album is gearing up to be much more than an inflated mixtape.

Yet while DVD freestyle king Un Kasa preps a solo LP, and super producer Agallah lends his musical talents to various acts throughout the industry, Purple City doesn’t stray far from its humble beginnings as a street-based movement founded by highly ambitious Diplomat affiliates longing for their own form of brand recognition. The crew astoundingly moved over a hundred thousand units combined of their various street releases before even signing their record deal with Babygrande/KOCH in December of 2004, and they continue to hit the streets with mixtapes almost religiously. Their latest mixtape endeavor- Shiest Bub & Purple City In Candyland, hosted by DJ Big Mike- has sold well over ten thousand units by itself since being released in December of 2005, and was showcased on MTV’s Mixtape Mondays. The crew contends, however, that regardless of how many records they sell in the street, mixtapes aren’t their main focus and they do not want to be pigeonholed. “It’s cool for a street buzz,” says Shiest. “But at the end of the day you want your shit out and recognized.”

With The Purple Album being graced with appearances from former Hot Boy B.G., QB-native Nature, and Brooklyn’s own Boot Camp Click, it appears that other artists are certainly recognizing the work being put in by Purple City, and the mutual respect is there. “When B.G. and I interacted, it was like him leading the song, because he’s the veteran,” Shiest explains. “The love was there off the strength of that.”

For now, the crew hopes that the quality of their latest foray will allow them to be one of the few from the dearth of acts who actually break through from the mixtape world to the mainstream. By hook or by cook, setting Purple City apart from the pack is something Shiest is intent on doing. “Not only are we mixtape kings,” he defiantly pronounces, “but our shit is now getting ready to pop off in stores and go somewhere else further. That’s the bigger picture.”

Grab yourself a seat, some popcorn, and a bag of the finest piff, the Purple City show is just about to begin.

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Purple City - The Purple Album