D Twizzie interview

[Sunni]

D12 has sold more than 4 million albums since they first broke nationally but have been overshadowed by Eminem, the only group member to achieve solo success. Now the rest of D12 is ready to break out and get their careers in gear.

It's hard enough getting one rapper to be somewhere on time, let alone a group of six MC's with split personalities. But that's the daunting task D12's management has decided to tackle on this steamy June afternoon in Birmingham, Mich. With Eminem unavailable because of scheduling conflicts and Bizarre overseas promoting his solo debut, one would think gathering the remaining four members of the group for an interview would be somewhat easy. Think again. After waiting patiently for an hour, management makes a few follow-up calls and finds out that Swift can't make it because of an unexpected family emergency. Now the quartet has been whittled down to a trio.

The first to arrive at the Townsend Hotel's ritzy boardroom is Kuniva, a soft-spoken cat with cornrows who speaks with a heavy Midwestern drawl. Proudly sporting a white Pistons jersey and jeans, he grabs a seat at the end of the long conference table and joins in the waiting game. About 15 minutes later, Proof strolls into the room and greets his homie. "What up, baby boy?" he says in a raspy voice. "They woke me up out of my sleep like, 'you know you got an interview today?' I'm like, 'whaaat?'"

While Proof appears fully recovered from his early wake-up call, a sleep-deprived Kon Artist wishes he could have hit the snooze button a few more times. Up 'til 6 a.m. working on tracks, the other rapper-producer of D12 is still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he arrives a short while later.

But who could be mad at the crew? It makes sense that they're catching up on sleep now. With the Anger Management Tour 3 just a few weeks away and various side hustles on everyone's plate, it doesn't look as if sleep will be on D12's agenda anytime soon. "I think me, Proof and Bizarre are probably more busy than Eminem right now," says Kon Artis while in mid-yawn. "Being a producer, I'm always in the studio. I can't just sit at home and do nothing. Until I catch up to what everybody else is doing, I'm always working. 'Cause our thing was, once we get in the game, everybody go and do what you do to the fullest."

From the outside looking in, it would appear that Eminem was the only D12 member working to his full potential. In addition to being a mult-platinum solo artist, he's CEO of Shady Records, which is home of one of the game's biggest stars, 50 Cent. He produces hits for some of hip-hops top artists (Jay-Z, 'Pac, et al). He starred in the 2002 blockbustor flick 8 Mile. And he took home a Best Original Song Oscar for "Lose Yourself," the chart-topping single off the film's soundtrack. So, after playing the back for a few years, the rest of D12 are finally ready for their individual time in the spotlight.

"We been spittin' since spittin' was startin' to spit," says Proof. "We spit hotter than Satan with a chest cold. But I guess we gotta get out in front some more and let Em play the background, 'cause it's our time to really jump through the forefront of the game. Like, it's cool D12 is over here and running. That's great, but I wanna exist over here. It ain't about wanting to be apart from something. It's just we want to exist on our own."

If you haven't noticed by now, it seems as though you can't read a D12 story without all roads pointing to Eminem, although he was not the first member of the Detroit rap crew. It's a classic example of the "gift and curse syndrome." While the bleach-blond MC's proven star power and defying-the-odds life story make for an interesting read, the five MCs that round out the group often end up obscured by Em's mult-platinum shadow. But what if Eminem was never a part of D12? "I think we all think about that," answers Kon Artist, almost in a whisper. "I wonder what kinda music would have came out [if Bugz was still alive]."

For those who don't know the D12 history so well, Bugz was a local rapper from the mid-'90s Detroit battle circuit. He was also an original member of D12, which was founded by Proof (a.k.a. Derty Harry). In 1993, Proof was hosting designer Maurice Malone's famed open-mic showcase at the Hip-Hop Shop, a local clothing store that transformed into an MC battleground for every Saturday night. "The Hip-Hop Shop is the nucleus for Detroit's hip-hop scene," says Kuniva (a.k.a. Rondell Beene). "It brought us all together in one common cause to do hip-hop, 'cause there's a lot of other shit we could have been doing on them Saturdays, like getting into a lot of dumb shit."

It was at the shop that Proof would hatch the idea for the Dirty Dozen (D12 for short), a rap collective consisting of 12 of Detroit's dopest MCs. The idea was eventually winnowed down to just six MCs, each with an alter ego. Although membership fluctuated in the beginning, the group's core remained mostly intact: Proof and his childhood friends Eminem (a.k.a. Slim Shady) and Kon Artis (a.k.a. Denaun Porter), who was initially the group's producer before becoming an offical member. Kon Artis was also half of a rap duo called Da Brigade, with Kuniva. And Bizarre (a.k.a. Red Headed Rapist), a horror-core rapper whom Proof met at the Shop, had been recruited early on and brought Bugz in.

"Every man that's in D12 was brought in by another member of the group," explains Proof. "It wasn't like no put put-together we-don't-know-each-other type shit. Like, Denaun asked for Kuniva to be there, Bizzy asked for Bugz to be there, and Bugz asked for Swift to be there. So, that made it six right there.

Actually, that made seven if you count Eminem. But by the mid-'90s, Eminem was experiencing his fair share of success outside the group, releasing two independant projects, 1996's Infinite and The Slim Shady EP the following year. With the buzz growing, Em captured the attention of Dr. Dre, and by the end of 1998 the Caucasian sensation signed a deal with Dre's Aftermath Records. Given his bidding solo career, Em offically left D12, opening up a slot for Swift (a.k.a. Swifty McVay) to round out the sextet. But Em made a pact to come back for his Detroit homies once he got on.

After releasing the four-times-platinum The Slim Shady LP in 1999, Em founded Shady Records and immediately signed D12. Sadly, Bugz was murdered a few weeks later over a dispute at a local picnic. His death left the group in shambles. Not only had they lost a dear friend, but if the D12 concept was to still work, they needed to find a replacement. "Once the demise of Bugz came, Em was like, 'Do you want it to be D12 featuring Eminem or D12 with me in the group?'" recalls Proof. "And we was like, 'If you in the group, then you in the group.' It was as simple as that."

Shortly after the tragedy, the guys regrouped with Em and began working on their national debut. In 2000, Eminem released his hugely successful sophomore album, The Marshall Mathers LP, which sold a remarkable 9 million copies. That set the stage for D12 to drop their first group album, Devil's Night, the following year. Capitalizing on Em's solo success and phenomenal fan base, the album produced popular singles like "Shit on You" and "Purple Hill" and went on to achieve double-platinum status.

[B.A.D.]

this interview is old

[Sunni]

Sorry, I just found it today.

[spitz]

it aint really old, its from the xxl shade 45 mag