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D12 (also known as D-12, The Dirty
Dozen, D-Twizzy and Detroit-Twelve) is an American
hip-hop group from Detroit, Michigan, which has had
albums reach the top of the American, British, and
Australian album charts: Devil's Night in 2001 and D12
World in 2004. D12 was formed in 1990, but only achieved
mainstream success when its most accomplished member,
Eminem, had risen to international fame and notoriety.
Previously, D12 had been a notable contributor in the
underground rap scene.
Members
Current members
D12 currently consists of five members
Eminem (Marshall Mathers) a.k.a. Slim Shady
Swift (Ondre Moore) a.k.a. Swifty McVay
Kon Artis (Denaun Porter) a.k.a. Mr. Porter
Kuniva (Von Carlisle) a.k.a. Rondell Beene
Bizarre (Rufus Johnson) a.k.a. Peter S. Bizarre
Deceased members
Bugz (Karnail Pitts), a.k.a. Robert Beck; shot and
killed on May 21, 1999)
Proof (DeShaun Holton), a.k.a. Dirty Harry; shot and
killed on April 11, 2006)
Early career
Proof formed D12 as a rap collective of local Detroit
MCs including Bizarre, Eminem, Eye Kyu, Killa Hawk, and
Fuzz. The group was a loose collective in the vein of
Wu-Tang Clan. Several members began making names for
themselves in hip hop during the late 1990s. Bizarre was
named Inner City Entertainment's "Flava of the Week". He
went on to release an album called Attack Of The Weirdos
and become a member of The Outsidaz with Eminem, Rah
Digga and Young Zee. Proof won a freestyling competition
run by The Source in 1998.
Before the group had any success, Killa Hawk and Fuzz
left the group due to various reasons. Fuzz in
particular did not get along well with Bizarre, which
inevitably caused him to leave the group. D12 went
through many changes during its beginning stages -
leaving only four official members: Proof, Bizarre,
Eminem and Eye Kyu for a long while. Eminem then later
left to pursue his solo career after being heard by Dr.
Dre. D12 temporarily was over. Right about when Eminem
got a deal, Proof decided to start D12 up again. Proof
was set to find other local rappers to join the group.
Proof managed to pick up local Detroit hip hop duo Da
Brigade to join. Da Brigade featured longtime Eminem and
Proof friend Kon Artis, who also produced Eminem's first
album Infinite. The other half of Da Brigade was formed
by local MC Kuniva. Kon Artis was just the producer for
D12 at the time, but was later convinced to join D12 as
an artist after his partner Kuniva decided to join the
Dirty Dozen. Kuniva then introduced Bugz to Proof who
later joined the group. Bizarre again joined, but Eye
Kyu had decided not to. D12 were in need of one more
member, until Bugz asked to have his long time friend
Swift, who at the time was already a member of the rap
duo Da Rabeez to join.
After all six members were established, the group made a
promise to each other that the first member to achieve
solo success would come back for the others.
Rise to fame
The first member of the group to achieve solo
success was Eminem. After he recorded an independent EP
called The Slim Shady EP in 1997 that caught the
attention of famed rap producer Dr. Dre and Interscope
CEO Jimmy Iovine, and he was quickly signed to
Aftermath/Interscope records. Eminem stuck to his pact,
and Dr. Dre once stated that while making The Slim Shady
LP, his debut album, he kept insisting that he go back
to sign the others. Dr. Dre told him to first establish
himself as a solo artist, then go back for his friends.
In 1999 he released his hit debut The Slim Shady LP and
quickly rose to super stardom, as The Slim Shady LP went
on to sell four million copies in the United States.
Having taken Dre's advice, he had established himself as
a solo artist and decided it was time to gather his
friends. As a way to establish D12, he created Shady
Records under the Interscope imprint. He then made D12
the first act to be signed to Shady/Interscope Records.
Death of Bugz
The group toured with Eminem after they signed with
Shady Records. Before a show in Detroit, D12 member Bugz
attended a picnic which would end with his death. Bugz
argued with a man over a water-pistol fight. As the
argument escalated, the man went to his SUV and
retrieved a firearm which he then fired in Bugz's
direction. Bugz was shot three times and hit by the
assailant's vehicle as he fled the scene. The attack was
caught on tape and shown on the local news later that
night.
D12 was shaken by the incident, darkening the light mood
of the rap collective. One of the last things Bugz had
asked Proof was to allow Swift to join D12.
Unfortunately, a few weeks after Swift joined, Bugz was
killed, and the rest of D12 couldn't cope and started to
believe it was over. After Bugz's death, Eminem asked if
he could substitute for Bugz to help them out and do
some shows with them which they were booked for prior to
Bugz's death. This eventually led to Eminem becoming a
member of D12 again.
In memory of Bugz, the group recorded the track "Good
Die Young" on their second album D12 World. The album
also included a song titled "Bugz '97", which was a 1997
recording of Bugz, originally from the song
'Desperados'. All five members of D12 as well as Swift
bear a tattoo of his name somewhere on their bodies in
remembrance of him. The group recorded their first LP
Devil's Night in his memory. Eminem's second album The
Marshall Mathers LP was also dedicated to Bugz.
Success
The group has released two albums, Devil's Night and
D12 World. Both albums debuted at number one on the
Billboard music charts in the U.S. and topped the charts
in many other countries. The two albums' hit singles
included "Purple Pills", "Fight Music", "My Band", and
"How Come".
The group was often overshadowed by Eminem's massive
success, and toured without him for the second album
while Eminem was busy recording Encore. Although
shadowed by Eminem's success, other members Bizarre and
Proof managed to prevail with mildly successful solo
careers with the releases of Hannicap Circus and
Searching for Jerry Garcia in 2005. D12 (minus Eminem)
appeared on Tech N9ne's 2002 album entitled Absolute
Power on the track "She-Devil". They also decided that
Eminem would not be as prominent on their upcoming third
album, which remains evident even after Proof's death.
Their third album is estimated to be 70% completed with
yet any input from Eminem.
Death of Proof
On April 11, 2006, Proof died after suffering a gunshot
wound to the head at approximately 4:30am EDT (08:30 UTC)
at the CCC Club on 8 Mile Road in Detroit, Michigan,
after fatally shooting Keith Bender Jr.. Proof fired the
first shots into Bender's head after taking his pistol
and striking Bender several times in the face. The
eruption is suspected to have been due to an argument
over a game of pool. Proof was then allegedly shot by
the bouncer Mario Etheridge, Bender's cousin. He was
then taken by private vehicle to St. John Health's
Conner Creek Campus, an outpatient emergency treatment
site, and was pronounced dead on arrival shortly
thereafter. Exact details of his death and the events
that led to it remain unclear.
He was buried on April 20 in The Fellowship Chapel,
Detroit, to a full house of 2,000 with thousands
mourning outside. Eminem and Obie Trice read eulogies at
the service. An excerpt from Eminem's speech: "I'm sure
everybody who has ever met him, even just once, can
testify to the fact that he illuminated a room when he
walked in it. I believe that Proof loved people and
people loved him. He was a magnet. He lured you in. You
wanted to learn about him, follow his swagger. Without
Proof, there would be no Eminem, no Slim Shady, and no
D12." Many rap artists offered their condolences to
Proof's family after the passing. Proof is survived by
his mother Sherallene; father McKinley; wife Sharonda;
sons DeShaun Rice and Elijha Abel; and daughters Katieva
Walker, Nassan, and Nyeem.
Swift's incarceration
On April 21, 2006, Swift was arrested in Novi,
Michigan, after he failed to appear in court. He skipped
the court date to attend fallen band-mate Proof's
funeral, where he served as an honorary pallbearer.
Swift was on probation from a drunk-driving case and
served two days in prison in October of 2005 for failing
a drug-test when they found alcohol in his blood stream.
Swift was sentenced by District Court Judge Brian
MacKenzie to 93 days in prison for violating terms of
his probation. His incarceration stalled the recording
process of D12's third album, and prevented him from
appearing in magazine interviews or being reached for
comment on Proof's death. He has now been released and
is currently working on the third D12 album, with a
tentative release date of sometime between March and May
of 2008. This was announced by Bizarre on the popular
Rap Basement Message Board, in which D12 members
occasionally post.
Chart success
Their debut album, Devil's Night, referring to the
old Detroit tradition of setting abandoned buildings on
fire (something that has since become a thing of the
past in Detroit) the night before Halloween, was
released in June 2001. It debuted at number one on the
U.S. and British charts, also reaching the top of the
Canadian charts. Devil's Night went on to sell four
million albums worldwide and two million in the U.S. It
featured the following hit singles:
"Purple Hills" (the clean version of "Purple Pills")
reached the top twenty on the Billboard 100 and number
one on the rap tracks charts in 2001 as well as number
two in the U.K. and the top ten in Australia.
"Shit on You" reached the British top ten and the
Canadian top five.
"Fight Music", featuring Ice T, Angie Martinez, Fat
Joe,in its music video, reached the British top twenty
and the Australian top forty.
The group's second album was D12 World released on April
27, 2004, featuring production by Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kon
Artis and Kanye West, and guest appearances by Obie
Trice on the track "Loyalty", and B-Real of Cypress Hill
on the track "American Psycho II". It debuted at the top
of the U.S., U.K., and Australian album charts, and
number two in Germany — selling over half a million
records in its first week of release in the U.S. alone.
"My Band", the album's first single, was also successful
reaching number one in Australia, New Zealand and the
U.S. rhythmic top forty, the top five in the U.K. and
Germany, and the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.
Appearances in film
The members of the group have also, on occasion,
turned to acting. Eminem is the lead actor in 8 Mile and
has a cameo appearance in The Wash, while Proof also
appears in 8 Mile as a freestyle rapper called "Lil'
Tic". The group (without Eminem) appear in 2005's The
Longest Yard credited as "Basketball Convicts".
Although, Eminem rapping about football can be heard
while the convicts are practicing at one point. The
group recorded the song "My Ballz" for The Longest Yard
soundtrack.
D12 member Eminem is set to star in a new film, as of
2006, titled Have Gun — Will Travel, a modernized remake
of the 1957 cowboy western television series of the same
name. The rest of the group was previously stated to be
producing and starring in two movies, one titled Devil's
Night — a horror film, and another titled Runyon Cash —
about growing up in the streets of Detroit. Since this
statement however, there has been no official word about
these releases. |
