The Purpleprint
February 2005
Composed of underground legend Agallah (The Don Bishop), Un Kasa and Sheist Bub - Purple City are set to release their first official album through Babygrande on March 22nd.
MVRemix: What's your first memory of Hip Hop?
Purple City:
My first memory? The record "White Lines."
MVRemix: Why the name "Purple City"?
Purple City: 'Cause that's what we do all day. We smoke purple haze.
MVRemix: What about "Sheist Bub The Emperor"?
Purple City: I'm the keeper. I'm the one who visioned the whole Purple City and Purple Haze - that was my idea. I felt like the only thing I could do to solidify my position was to call myself The Emperor because that's what I am.
MVRemix: How did you all hook up?
Purple City: Basically we all know each other through the streets. It wasn't through music, it was friends. Then we started through the Diplomat movement through [Un] Kasa and then Agallah, I listened to some of his beats on a CD and I thought, lets deal with him.
MVRemix: Now Agallah's prior musical endeavours seem very different to those of Dipset and so the affiliation was a surprise. Did Agallah have a history with Dipset prior to Purple City or was it just through yourselves?
Purple City: It really arose because of myself. I'm a Diplomat. Not on the music side, but through the street movement. I brought Agallah to the table like "Yo, he got some hot beats."
MVRemix: What was it about the Dipset movement/music that attracted you to being affiliated?
Purple City: Well it had nothing to do with the music in the beginning. It was basically through the lifestyle. Our motto is "Do it our way." That's my motto and that was the same motto that Jim had and Cam did. I was feelin' that.
MVRemix: What are your feelings on Roc-A-Fella's treatment of "Purple Haze"?
Purple City: I mean I have no comment on that. I didn't have any involvement with that project.
MVRemix: What are your thoughts on Hot 97's airing of the "Tsunami" song?
Purple City: I thought it was kind of foul. But it is what it is, we're all human, so...
MVRemix: Tell me about "Road To The Riches."
Purple City: "Road To The Riches" is basically a transition project from street mixtape level to industry level and it's like all the work that we've done for the last two years and new work that people don't even know that we've done and it's basically lettin' people know that our road to the riches is a focused and narrow road that not too many can walk. That's how we gain' our respect - by just staying focused and walking that straight road.
MVRemix: What sort of subjects do you discuss? Which track has the most meaning for yourselves?
Purple City: There's a couple tracks that have a lot of meaning. Basically the whole album comin' out has a lot of meaning to us as far as we've put so much work in; dealing with the mixtape grind and dealing with the street element. 'Cause we had a video that came out a year prior to the album dropping and at that time people thought we were rich! And it wasn't the case. Just for us, the struggle of putting out the album period, the burden off our shoulders. It means a lot to us.
MVRemix: If you had to compare the album to a designer label or car, which would you choose and why?
Purple City: I would say that the "Road To The Riches" is definitely a Chrysler 300C.
MVRemix: Why is that?
Purple City: Because it's new. It's different, and it's definitely all right.
MVRemix: Are you a big fan of movies?
Purple City: A huge movie fan! I own over 1700 DVDs.
MVRemix: Which movie impacted you the most?
Purple City: I like "Deep Cover." I like Laurence Fishburne movies.
MVRemix: What did you think of "Soul Plane"? (Babygrande's Chuck Wilson wrote the script)
Purple City: When I first seen "Soul Plane," I didn't know Babygrande or Chuck Wilson and at first I was pissed off like "Damn, everybody tryin' to do this purple shit" and then when I seen the movie I was like - it's not all that. So I was kinda happy.
MVRemix: A la "Fight Club," "If you could fight any celebrity, who would you fight?"
Purple City: I would fight Guerilla Black.
MVRemix: Any particular reason why?
Purple City: For imitating B.I.G. the great.
MVRemix: Aisde from "Road To The Riches," what else are you working on?
Purple City: Right now I'm dropping two mixtape albums called "Need For Weed" and "Collections Volume 2."
MVRemix: Any last words to fans or potential fans that are going to be reading this?
Purple City: Only thing I have to say is that none of this would be possible if procedure wasn't involved. This didn't just happen overnight, it wasn't lucky, it wasn't a big break. It was destiny. There was nothing left for us except to do what we do because we follow procedure. I own the Purple-print, not the blueprint, but the Purple-print. If you wanna know more about that, it'll cost ya. The game is to be sold not told as you already know.
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