When he performs at Comerica Park tonight and Friday, Eminem won't be the only recovering rapper on stage.
Denaun Porter, Eminem's hype man and D12 band mate (he goes by the alter ego Kon Artis), has recently fought back from personal struggles that forced him to take two years off from music. When his unhealthy lifestyle and ballooning weight led to a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, a heart disease that increases the risk of stroke, he decided to clean himself up and get his life back on track.
Around that same time, he received a phone call from Eminem.
"He called and was like, 'you know what, I want to ask you if you would do the hype man job,' " says Porter, of the stage role formerly filled by D12's DeShaun "Proof" Holton. It was Proof's death in 2006 that set off Porter's downward spiral and made him question his love for music.
"For me, I had a million emotions all at once," says Porter of being asked to fill Proof's role of supporting Eminem vocally on stage as well as whipping up the crowd. "The first three or four days, I was like I don't know, I can't do it how Proof did it. So the only thing I can do is bring something else to the table. But I have the utmost respect for Eminem and I just wanted to be there for him. And it's the opportunity of a lifetime, so I wasn't going to let it slide."
The first show Porter performed as Em's right hand man was at the release party for Eminem's "Relapse" album at the Motor City Casino in May 2009. "I was terribly nervous at that first show," he says. "But I kept telling myself, 'He needs me,' and since then we've become more and more comfortable on stage."
Porter, 31, was born in North Carolina and moved to Detroit with his family when he was very young. He grew up around music -- his father, Charles Porter, is a gospel singer and his grandfather sang with the Blind Boys of Alabama -- and he eventually pursued music himself, becoming a talented producer. After meeting Eminem in the mid-1990s, he produced tracks for the rapper, including Eminem's 1996 "Infinite" album. He went on to produce songs for 50 Cent, G-Unit, Snoop Dogg and Method Man.
But after Proof's death he spiraled out of control. He stopped caring about work and let himself go physically. And he says he was in a toxic relationship that ate away at his self-esteem and made him question his worth. His self-confidence hit rock bottom.
Eminem helped turn things around for him, and now he's feeling better physically and mentally. He produced "On Fire," one of the tracks on Eminem's hugely successful "Recovery" album. In addition to creating sound equipment, he's working with Swizz Beatz and Jadakiss, and says he's working with Ludacris on what he hopes will be a dream project. "I want to see an Eminem and Ludacris collaboration, and I kind of want to make the beat for that," he says.
On stage with Eminem, his job is to be there for the rapper at all times. "It's about making sure that he's comfortable," Porter says. "When he's doing his thing, I'm keeping the motivation up, keeping the energy up. And I'm remembering every word of every song, so I don't care where he decides to pull back at, I'm gonna jump right in. I got him."
That confidence is the key, Porter says, as well as believing he has a right to be on stage backing up the world's most popular hip-hop star.
"I just have to remember there are things I've done right in my life for him to want me to be there," he says. "I'm up there, I know what my job is, and I know what I bring to the table. You know what I mean? And I'm gonna have the crowd on they feet."
From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100902 ... z0yMlOiuiG
