Agallah Bio (2006)

It was 1996, the CMJ Convention. Supernat and Craig G had just finished up their now legendary battle when they handed the mic to a young lyricist. Not just anyone could follow such a battle, but they knew Agallah was one of the few that could. “They gave me the mic and really they done smashed the crowd in half,” Agallah remembers “so to go on after them you got to come crush it so reality is I crushed like the whole convention with some bars and everybody was like yo, that kid is the truth, when is he dropping an album? That was the question with everybody.” The answer is, finally, now.

The fans from that night may not have enjoyed the instant gratification of getting an album from Agallah right away, but nothing in Brooklyn native’s life has come easy. Agallah is from the Brownsville projects, a place he deems “the worst project in Brooklyn.” “These parts out here,” he continued “these projects, they’re meant to intake you, swallow you and spit you out.” In the case of Agallah the projects have done just that to him, and more than once. “I done got the bad hand dealt to me,” he explains “my whole life has just been straight chaos.”

The chaos for Agallah started with his family. Growing up he witnessed almost everyone that was close to him pass away. Agallah’s grandfather, whom he credits as the backbone of the family, passed away first, quickly followed by an uncle who died of AIDS. The final straw came when Agallah’s mother was murdered. “Shit just started being a domino effect like why the fuck is this shit happening to me? My moms passed away but my own family didn’t tell me, somebody that I went to school with said yo they buried your moms.” Agallah remembers “they didn’t even tell me where they buried her, so it hurts. They tried to hide it from me because they knew I would go crazy, which I did.”

Agallah grew his hair long after his mother’s passing and “started spazzing out.” His wildness almost led to his own death one night at The Tunnel, a nightclub in NYC that was notorious for its violent episodes. “One night I went up in there in the bathroom and somebody pulled out a razor, pick-pocketed me, slashed me on my neck and almost cut my jugular vein and left me for dead.” Agallah calls the near death experience “a wake up call.” Who he was associating himself with become of extreme importance. Most people, however, figured Agallah was finished. “Everybody was just like he’s through, he’s finished, he’s done, ain’t nobody looking out for the cat.” The truth of the matter was, however, plenty of people were checkin for Agallah, they were just all in the music industry.

While his personal life was falling apart, his musical career was showing signs of life. Unfortunately, much like in his personal life, every time one of those signs of life came up the rug was quickly pulled out from under him. Agallah signed his first deal when he was 17, with Tommy Boy. He considered this his first invite to have his talent showcased. His talent wasn’t showcased, though, as Agallah notes “I was this young raw energy and they didn’t know how to market or promote me so I lost the deal.” From Tommy Boy he went to East West Elektra and released the single “Ghetto Girl.” The label was in dire straights when Agallah arrived, however, and quickly went under. Working as both an MC and a producer Agallah was beginning to wonder if he’d ever get his chance to shine. “I did it before Kanye or any of these producers that are out right now claiming they’re rappers and producers. I’ve been doing it, I’ve just never gotten my shot with the right people, I never really got my due.” In addition to producing his own music he also laid down tracks for Busta Rhymes, Remy Martin, The Diplomats and Big Pun. When it comes to his solo work, however, in 2006 Agallah is finally getting the opportunity to show his full arsenal of skills.

Along with Shiest Bub, Agallah formed Purple City and the group signed a three album deal with babygrande with separate solo deals aside from the group. After being slept on with his previous label deals Agallah became proactive with this one. “What I did was I put out Propane Piff to have them speed up the process,” he explains “that just made them realize yo, we’ve got to get this dude on board now, he is the truth.” At that point the album You Already Know was born and artists were quick to jump on it. Alchemist, Dead Prez, Nappy Roots and Ike Eyez all make guest appearances on You Already Know and Alchemist even handles production for the songs Agallah didn’t produce himself.

After rocking every major stage and winning almost every major battle in New York City Agallah is ready to show the world what he can do. An E.O.W. champion, a Lyricist Lounge veteran, Agallah has one major goal left to accomplish. “I want people to see what I’m bringing to the table is something extravagant, is something incredible and unforgettable and at the same time see that I walked the path that I walked.” For the many who’ve heard Agallah rhyme You Already Know.