Real Talk: The Don Bishop Agallah [August 2006]

Eddie Propane hasn't always been. The mysterious looking cat rocking dark shades on underground album and mixtape covers with hair draped passed his shoulders wasn't always engulfed in a purple mist of haze and glory. Agallah is what New York Hip-Hop is all about: concrete struggle. Life has chewed up and spit him out on many occasions. Fighting for his own breath and moving forward through the pain of lost loved ones, abject poverty and betrayal, Agallah always remained true to his craft, motivated by his love of hip-hop. In the 90's, the artist formerly known as 8-off the Assassin gained notoriety for songs like "Ghetto Girl" and "Crookie Monster." Unfortunately, record label turmoil began early in his fifteen-year journey. Bouncing around from Tommy Boy to Elektra, the Brooklyn native's chance at stardom seemed bleak. But faith in a higher power and an incessant will to succeed surged through his blood as he ripped open mics, decimated rap battles and went on to trail blaze the Dipset affiliate, Purple City. Get familiar, homey. You should already know. This is real talk from The Don Bishop, yao ming?!

What’s the feedback been like for Propane Piff?

Ag: God has arrived. It's a long awaited breath of fresh air. I share this with all the homies that watched me grind and come up. Propane Piff was indication to the streets that I'm here. Real talk, this is my life.

When did you come to that vital realization?

Ag: After helping so many artists become stars and as a veteran, making Purple City what it is today. I would define Purple City as a needed sacrifice because we didn't have any opportunities. It was about making a name for ourselves, working together and moving up. Before I came, Shiest didn't know anything about independent until I showed him the key players. Chuck Wilson gave us our first shot and helped us to independently sell 40,000 units. Purple City was still doing numbers in the streets with the mixtapes, being affiliated with Dipset and consecutively putting out fifteen mixtapes in one year. We built this from the ground up, on our own. Now, it's only right for the majors to come see me on my terms. I just bumped into Lyor Cohen the other day. I haven't seen him in ten years. He was like "you're doing good, come see me." It's a lot of politics involved. Purple City and the Dips are eating at the same table, them being with Koch and us over here at Babygrande.

Knowing your history and rough upbringing, how does it feel to finally drop your first solo album?

Ag: I feel vindicated. After the trials and tribulations that I went through in my life, it’s a true testimony that you can make it. Even if you've been dealt the worst hand, with faith in the Most High and faith in yourself you can overcome any obstacle. I watched my moms get murdered over cocaine; all my friends I grew up with are locked away in jail. I almost got murdered twice...This is my journey as I'm trying to do music. Coming out of all that is a true testimony. I am the truth. Plenty of times I was left for dead. How can I not survive this industry when I survived all of that?

Real talk. How do you convey your personal journey to listeners with this new project?

Ag: You Already Know is a timeless work of music. It's addressing real shit going on right now; the fraudulent level that the industry has come to and the culture gone wild. The importance of Hip-Hop and where it comes from is embedded in the LP. It's a personal album. I'm not on a major label but I multi-tasked and put in a lot of work to make this record possible. I brought in my homies: Kool G. Rap, DJ Premier, dead prez, The Alchemist, Nappy Roots and Ike Eyes. These are dudes that I not only knew I could make hits with but also have genuine love for. I wanted to show diversity by working with legends, up-and-comers, and revolutionaries.

Give us some background on the song “Cry For Help.”

Ag: There was a time in my life when I was in need of help, left for dead. I was homeless and living on the streets...Just thinking about life, you feel all hope is lost. I was talking about my relationships, street life, living in the hood, disloyalty...A lot of things made me realize that I was alone and at the end of the day, I'm going in the casket by myself. It's the Most High and me. That record, all that shit building up, that was my cry for help. And there are a lot of us crying for help and we don't want to let out that inner pain. It might not be manly to shed a tear, but when you’re alone in deep thought, you reflect on it. A lot of rappers overlook that.


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