Purple City

These cats got personality, and personality goes a long way in rap. Purple City are two NY rappers — Don Bishop Agallah (formally 8-Off the Assassin) and Un Kasa — and one creative hustler (Shiest Bub, the emperor of Purple City) who sort of raps. Road to Riches is their debut as artists signed to Babygrande and it’s a compilation of their best material from their mix-tapes. Because it’s a collection though, the songs range from exciting to skippable. If you’re in the mood for some Diplomats-inspired gully rap, Purple City can certainly hold you over. Jim Jones makes an exceptional cameo on the moody "Purple City Byrdgang” and Juelz Santana lights it up on "Copz Iz Coming” with Un Kasa. An array of epic guitars, moody keys, electric synths, and drums that are both dizzy and heavy make up the dark metro sound on Road to Riches. Agallah handles half of the production on the 21 tracks and Purple City take you into their colourful world of the most potent haze marijuana called "piff,” the hustlers who control it, and what happens when they’re on it. Un Kasa is tirelessly menacing and entertaining on tracks like "Will Not Lose” and "Winning.” Don Bishop Agallah is a gruff-voiced piff-addicted street survivor with nothing but ill-will for those not on his team. Shiest Bub and other Harlem-ites like J.R. Writer also jump on Road to Riches and help force the purple Harlem flag deeper into the rap landscape with this moody style of in-your-face rap.