"Purple Pills", also known as "Purple Hills" in the radio edit, is a song by Americanhip hop groupD12, taken as the second cut from their debut studio album,Devil's Night. It achieved notable success, reaching number 19 on theBillboard Hot 100, number two in United Kingdom, Ireland, and Norway, and the top 10 in Australia, Finland,Flanders, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
The track features verses rapped byEminem,Bizarre,Proof, Swifty and a joint verse between Kuniva and Kon Artis. The album version of the song contains many references to drug use, with "purple pills", "golden seals", and "Mushroom Mountain" being examples ofrecreational drug use. When it was announced that the group intended to release the track as a single, due to the drug and sex references, it was deemed inappropriate for play on many radio stations, and as such, a censored version of the song, "Purple Hills", was made.
"Purple Hills" removes most of the drug and sex references and replaces them with comical lyrics. Such changes include the line "I've been to mushroom mountain" altered to say "I've climbed the highest mountain"; and the line "I take a couple uppers, I down a couple downers" changed to "I've been so many places, I've seen so many faces." Most of Bizarre's verse is entirely changed, due to the strong amount of sexual and drug content in it. Music videos were made for both "Purple Pills" and "Purple Hills" respectively. The accompanying music videos were directed byJoseph Kahn.[1]
In the United States and United Kingdom, radio play was limited to "Purple Hills", as "Purple Pills" was deemed not suitable for radio. However, a number of underground radio stations in theUnited States played "Purple Pills". Music channels were also restricted to playing the video for "Purple Hills". When physically released, two versions of the single were made available in the United Kingdom — one for "Purple Pills", with the "Purple Pills" audio track and music video, and one for "Purple Hills", with the "Purple Hills" audio track and music video. In Europe and Australia, one version of the single was available—this contained "Purple Pills" as an audio track but the music video for "Purple Hills". In America, one version of the single was available — this contained "Purple Hills" as an audio track with no enhanced section.
^Purple Hills (UK CD1 liner notes). D12. Shady Records, Interscope Records. 2001. 497 587-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Purple Pills (UK CD2 liner notes). D12. Shady Records, Interscope Records. 2001. 497 569-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Purple Pills (UK cassette single sleeve). D12. Shady Records, Interscope Records. 2001. 497 565 4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Purple Hills (European CD single liner notes). D12. Shady Records, Interscope Records. 2001. 497 565-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Purple Hills (European maxi-CD single liner notes). D12. Shady Records, Interscope Records. 2001. 497 585-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Purple Pills (Australian CD single liner notes). D12. Shady Records, Interscope Records. 2001. 497 566-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
