Customer Reviews

Road to the Riches: Best Of The Purple City Mixtapes

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I gave this album 4 stars because the beats are great. the lyrics on the other hand suck. I have followed PCP since their first mixtape. Another thing about this album is that there is nothing really new. I think Un Kasa should be the only one spitting and Agallah shold stick to the beats and Shiest just hype it up. If not for the beats, this album would be trash. I'm disapointed in the lyrics.

If your sole objective for buying an album is to listen to some great beats, then this album is for you. If your objective is to hear great beats and lyrics/flows (or just great lyrics/flows), then this album is definitely not for you. I decided to check this album out because I heard a couple of songs on XM Radio and the beats were tight so I figured there might be some lyrical potential on other songs on the album as well as good beats -- WRONG! There is virtually no lyrical skill displayed on this album. It's like listening to a Beatnuts album except at least these guys don't shout their sh!#y lyrcis over the track so you can't hear the good beats (like the Beatnuts do). If you've been smokin some piff as they call it and just want to chill out to some tight beats, then this is your album. If you want to hear some nice lyrics, go listen to Canibus or Common; don't waste your time on this album. Like I said in the title, this album gets 3 stars strictly on beats. Some of the hottest tracks include "A Part of History", "Will Not Lose", & "Piff Iz Da Answer".

It's true some of the songs on this cd I first heard years ago, but this 'Best Of' collection is a good group of Purple City/Diplomats songs.

If someone has not heard of Purple City they should understand that it refers to upper Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood in Manhattan. The neighborhoods act as a cocaine & marijuana mecca for the tri-state area. In particular New Jersey which is seperated from Wasington Heights by the 1 mile 'George Washington Bridge', which carries New England to the rest of the country via I-95. The George Washington Bridge is pictured on the cover of the record and it should be noted that so much traffic crosses the bridge (and upper Manhattan) that it remains a top terrorist target due to the damage it could do to our economy. That's how many trucks/cars cross through that neighborhood, some who stop and create supply for narcotics.

The lyrics are up to par with many other rappers, with the added chronicles of the described New York street life. These are stories of "Piff" (marijuana), cocaine, parties, women, and luxuries that were grown from the bottom up.

For fans who have the the mixtapes already, this is probably not going to do much more than give you the satisfaction of supporting them. But for newcomers the songs offer a look into the self-made crew that with the help of Cam'ron, Juelz Santana & Jim Jones have sold something like 80,000 mixtapes.

I reccomend this PCP 'Best Of' collection to people who like rap and can enjoy the drug & gun talk without getting all bent up about it. It may also help to not take it so seriously as crime has dropped a lot in Harlem/Washington Heights in the past 10 years. If you are someone who likes both the introspective side of hip hop and the gangsta' side then you will like this album, It has both + the beats to back it up.

Look out for "Purple City Byrdgang", which is like a street anthem, "Piff Iz Da Way", a song which talks specifics when it comes to Purple Haze (Piff) in Washington Heights, "Gun Go" is a catchy gangsta' record while "It Ain't Easy" samples a rock song which gets flipped into a nice beat.

"Copz Iz Coming" may have benefitted by fleshing out some of the lyrics, however the repetitive rhymes by Juelz Santana manage to get stuck in my head anyway. Even if you feel like they were put in there to extend the song by 8 bars his delivery is very catchy. I don't like Me & U.

If you know these neighborhoods well then you realize that this is the one of two big rap crews coming directly out of Manhattan Island, home of the Knicks, MTV and Sesame Street, that is repping Manhattan. No longer is "Harlem" the 5th borough to rap, now it is joined by Washington Heights. Inwood & Washington Heights are more uptown than "uptown". These records were made from riders of the 1, 9 and A trains, those present in Manhattan on 9/11, and those who have turned a life of crime down for a life of prosperity.

Thought this 1 was pretty tight. I started gettin into Purple City after seein the video 4 "Purple City Byrdgang" and seein Un Kasa on DVDs. If u like Dipset or Purple City u will definatly like this one. 5 stars from me.

TOP TRACKS:
Piff Iz Da Answer
Purple City Byrdgang
Me & U
Copz Iz Coming
A Star

The Purple City movement is in full force. This is a crazy mixture of original beats, and nice flow and delivery. Being that Cam'Ron and the dips co-signed um' I expected this. I can't get enough of Un Kasa, and those Agallah beats are raw. I like Sheist Bubs style, he keep it real. I would have gave it 5 stars but its not really something you can put in and listen to without skipping a few tracks. But even with that being said, the album is still piff.

Purple City members, Shiest Bub 'The Emperor', Un Kasa and Agallah 'The Don Bishop' are an extension of The Diplomats, but had their own identity and direction led by Shiest Bub, eight of the twenty-one tracks were produced by Agallah and Un Kasa held it down lyrically. "Purple City Byrdgang" featuring Jim Jones should have been the anthem but the hook wasn't strong enough to carry the song as Un Kasa states "...you better honor that sh*t..." "Piff Iz Da Answer" has crisp production a horn section where Purple City talks about what they smoke. The production and the hook was the highlight for "Me & U" featuring J.R. Writer with this laid back track that's amazingly a highlight for this LP. On to a more heavy metal, rock-hop, "It Ain't Easy" blended with the overall sound and identity. "Broadway" featuring Alleyway contains a Spanish horn section sample for the bridge/hook. "Will Not Lose" has a classic hip-hop track where Un Kasa spits solo lyrical attack "...blow your brains all over Thousand Islands, that's a salad dressing / from a silent weapon..." The title "Copz Iz Coming" featuring Juelz Santana have the drive of a party / club banger with its up-tempo shakers and production by Teflon. "A Part Of History" featuring DK deserves honorable mention with an epic instrumental. Something to get the crowd involved and hyped "Roll It Up, Light It Up" has the chants to start the movement. Agallah flows solo on "America Show" with lyrics "...f*ck y'all, yeah I'm trying to do me / ménage trios ma, I'm trying to do three / 106 & Park, I'm trying to do Free / settle for a model b*tch trying to do E..." "A Star" had the most commercial appeal with the sample taken. As the City takes us to the streets with shots from "Gun Go" featuring Juelz Santana & Jim Jones as the show was taken completely by Juelz. The Road To The Riches: The Best Of The Purple City Mixtapes is highlighted with production as some of the mediocre lyrics didn't seem to always fit with the unique style and sounds provided.

Ok first thing you must know about this cd is that the lyrics really compare nothing to those of the Diplomats, however, with that saying, their production is just as hot. I dunno if it was the heatmakerz (some of the best producers in the biz) who did some of the beats but they sound dope as hell either way. If your gonna buy this cd then you should really only buy it if you just wanna hear some hot beats for influence or watever.

I agree with the reviewer before me:

***This album should be purchased for the BEATS ONLY.***

Period. There's no lyrical gymnastics on this album, whatsoever, so if you're expected lyricism -- I'm warning you now -- this is NOT the album. The only one who holds the album together lyrically is Un Kasa, and Kasa isn't a jaw-dropping lyricist either, although he's definitely ahead of his other two group members. I'd say Kasa's a spit above average.

For heads that know, the self-proclaimed Don Bishop Agallah is the modern "reincarnation"/new moniker of the forgotten 8Off the Assassin (yeah, I slept on it too after seeing the video for "Ghetto Girl" back in '96...<shaking my head>...terrible). Let's just say that 8Off/Agallah took a hint when he finally gave some thought to what people were saying about his rap skills...he's an exceptional producer and that's where he should've been all along: behind the boards, although he still goes "in the booth" at times on the album.

Actually, I don't really know what to say about Agallah. You can literally trace him from 1996-Present. As 8Off, he was a quirky rapper (I don't even know what stilo the kid was on back then), then around 1999/2000, he went to the whole "indie/backpacker" thing when he did some work for Game Recordings, and now he's Agallah, the "Don Bishop" and Dipset Purple City Byrdgang member?!?! It's kind of like watching Mos Def becoming the thugged out type...I guess. Whatever the case is and all strangeness of Agallah's transformation(s) aside, he doesn't suck on the mic, but he's not good either.

Shiest Bub is ALL OVER this album and should be ashamed of himself. Lyrically, dude is straight ASS. And like Guru said, "...it's not all about the lyrics...you've gotta have the voice..." Shiest Bub has some weird undescribable voice and his toddler-elementary lyrics are so wack...man, dude makes me laugh out loud on some of the tracks. Shiest Bub SUCKS, period. And it's really disappointing that he didn't get behind the boards like he did for Jim Jone's new album (Bub produced the exquisite "Harlem" on 'Diary of A Summer').

While some beats aren't as good as others, the bangers stick out like a sore thumb. If you liked the Heatmakerz when they were hot about 3-4 years ago, you'll absolutely LOVE tracks like "Winning" (sounds like something off a movie soundtrack), "Me & U", and "Will Not Lose" (with the first two being produced by Agallah). Top quality.

FINAL NOTES: As the title of the album states, this is a "Best Of" collection of various songs featured on different Purple City mixtapes, which makes the album a mixtape in of itself. What does all that mean? Don't expect any continuity, fluidity, and expect to waddle through crap to get to the goods (just like on a mixtape). This is a good CD for the beats, though. If you can find this anywhere (I'm talking about a physical store, not online), you're going to be hard pressed to find this. Don't buy it at full price -- you'll be pissed. Instead, burn it, get it from a friend, or whatever. Peace.

When I heard the first single "Purple City Byrd Gang", I knew I had to get this CD. It delivered. For those who haven't heard anything by the group, chances are if you like The Diplomats, you will like Purple City (Jim Jones and Juelz Santana are featured on the CD). CD is straight gangsta. Go buy it.

This is a second rate CD from the Dip set crew. After hearing the brilliant single "Purple City Byrdgang" which is one of my Favorite songs at the moment. Not much lives up to the brilliance of that First single. The beats are nice all the way through the album. But even Lil Jon raps greater then these guys
Lyrics 4.5 Production 9 Replay 7 Entertainment 8