A native of Brooklyn’s notorious Brownsville Projects, Agallah has been a presence on the underground hip-hop scene for quite some time, although mainstream success has continued to elude him. Starting out as a producer, Agallah turned to rhyming and released a major label single on Elektra Records in 1995. A collaboration with Mr. Cheeks of the Lost Boyz followed, as well as production stints for the likes of EPMD, Das EFX, Onyx, and Group Home[1]. During this time, Ag won the acclaim of top New York producers, such as Tony Touch and DJ Premier. In 2000, Agallah recorded the Sesame Street-themed single “Crookie Monster,” which became an underground hit. A friendship with Shiest Bub eventually led to the formation of Purple City Entertainment (also known as Purple City Productions) with Un Kasa, which attracted the attention of Dipset capo Jim Jones[2]. Shiest previously had been doing promotional work for Cam’ron and Juelz Santana. For the new Purple City project, Agallah was christened “the Don Bishop,” with Shiest as “the Emperor.” Jones’ enthusiasm for Ag’s track “Gangsta” garnered the producer/MC a slot on the Diplomats Volume 4 mixtape. Poised to take over the booming mixtape circuit, Purple City signed to Babygrande Records in late 2004. The following year, the label released a “greatest hits” collection that collected Purple City’s best mixtape gems. Even as Purple City reached newer heights in 2006, Un Kasa departed the outfit due to business disputes, among other reasons. Agallah’s profile as a solo artist has also expanded in the wake of Purple City’s rise, with the release of You Already Know (featuring appearances by Dead Prez and Nappy Roots, with production by DJ Premier and Alchemist) on Babygrande coupled with the release of Propane Piff on Koch Records.| |
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