The Eminem Blog

A few months ago, I decided to write an article about Eminem’s
brother Nathan. Knowing how much supportive Nathan is towards his
brother and that he is also an aspiring rapper, I wanted to gather
enough info about him for people to know more about him. My
intentions were also to honor him as a supportive family member of
Eminem. I also admire the fact that he wants to rap too. Which means
that he will have to work very hard.
To the person who posted ‘ if ther is one thing i hate is people
kissing ass – Id hate to be living in someones shadow like Nate is,
and being a sponge of my own brother would put me too shame”, think
before you post.
Nate is not “living in Marshall’s shadow”. He hasn’t started his
career yet. He hasn’t found any record deal for the moment. He isn’t
in the show business and didn’t have the opportunity to show his
talent.
At the time I wrote this article, I never thought I would attract
some real crazy Nathan fans on the Eminem part of Gavinsblog.com.
One of them even dared insulting me and
I had to delete her comment because it was really disrespectful and
demeaning.
Here are some example of some ‘ psycho Nathan Mathers fans ‘ :
” yo ashleymr88 wat u sayin? dat ma nates so cute well e iz aint e?
n iz all mine!!! n by da way nate aint lookin in to christianity ez
happy da way e iz n i love im jus da way e iz.”
“Nate you are so hot!! Then there is Eminem whitch is just as hot!!
if you have any pictures of em or nate dogg send them to…”
“yo, nathan i love! i wanna meet you one day. i like you not your
brother. well, i do like some of his music. if you get this e-mail
me. PLEASE, pretty please!love u much!!!!!”
“hell yeah your right they r the most fuckin’ sexiest guyz on earth!
i want nathan so bad… and i also heard nathan is gonna be rapper
soon so dont worry u will hear some of his songs!
OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!! NATE IS SO HOT!!!! I WANT TO F**K HIM ALL
NIGHT LONG!!!”
Today, I would like to speak my mind about your comments, little 11
years old girls.
A freelance music journalist is fed up with your shit.
I would really like those freaky comments to stop.
You have the right to love Nathan or Marshall, nobody will forbid
you that. But, please, keep you sexual fantasies at home!You are
pathetic.
Please respect Nathan and Marshall.
Also stop being such fakes, telling everybody you’re in touch with
Nathan. Which I sincerely doubt.
If you really are, good for you.
To all the little girls with no life (I am not talking about people
who have left some insightful comments on the website), please
respect Nathan. Do you think he would like to read such freaky
comments? And above all respect yourselves.
Let me tell you this: Nathan is engaged in a long term relationship
with a girl called Athena. Both love each other. I’m asking you to
respect this. Do you get my point?
I am a huge Eminem fan and I know how much people like to invade
Marshall’s privacy. I am also conscious about how much he suffers
from such situations. A loyal Eminem fan ought to respect Marshall
and his family, including the ones fans often dislike like Debbie or
Kim.
Please respect the Mathers. They are normal persons who want people
to respect their privacy. I’ll never insist enough on that point.

In my opinion, my friend Timothy Wright from Warren, who is also a huge Eminem fan, is gifted for poetry. I like the texts he has written and I would like to share them with you.
From Within:
A Person can only take so much before they go insane,right? I can feel myself falling over the edge into total craziness. My whole life I have been angry and I can feel my anger getting ready to end in one huge violent explosion. It’s frightening and very liberating at the same time. In a way I cant wait for all the secrets to become front page news so I can unburden myself but I also have the sense to realize that as free as I may feel at the time Ill never survive the consequences. My heart beats faster everytime I think of my options. One, go on in secrecy until I go insane, Two,end my life and never have time to contemplate the consequences,Three,go away from all of this and try to begin again in total honesty,or Four,explode now and cause myself more pain and sorrow than my heart can bear,Obviously number three is the most appealing but Im a coward that can’t even think about the pain it would cause I have to do something But What? My Heart can’t take anymore and the isolation I feel is maddening. I’ve lost grip of myself. My own name means nothing to me. I don’t know or even remember myself. Everything is so distantand way too close. My body has seperated from my soul. I can somehow hear me crying out inside of myself. I ran away from myself slowly inside and now that I’ve turned around to look back the me that used to be is gone. Somehow I need to reinvent him. I can’t find that place where hope used to flood from. As I read back over these words panic quickens my pulse and I feel a sense of everything closing in on me, My soul can’t breathe. My sense of Reality is falling apart. I always feel like asking someone how the hell I got here. Sometimes I wonder if other people feel this way but I know they don’t because everyone views their life differently and I guess it would’nt matter if they did because there’s no togetherness in isolation. Why didnt I notice the strands in my happiness rope coming undone? It seemed to happen so slowly that I didnt see it and now that I look back It seems to have happened all at once. The old saying of there’s nowhere left to go but up seems to come to mind but I have no rope,stairs,or ladder to go up. Im stuck at the bottom crying for help so quietly that nobody can hear me. I’ve asked for help from whatever unseen,all knowing power that I believe exists but I am so hidden within myself that either I can’t be heard or the zombie that I am now has overshadowed my true self. My heart is so open but the only thing I have inside me to feed it is poison. Im dying. Nobody see’s,knows,or cares but Im dying. If I can’t find a way to find myself again the hurt taker that is mostly me will take too much and swallow my small self whole. Death will come to the person I’ve become or the small part that is me Soon.
Alone in the dark:
Alone in the dark, He doesnt know where to begin to try to contain the terrible tragedy within
The walls stare hard, only showing more pain
His soul cold & black will forever be stained A vast array of feelings he can’t reveal and in his mind the truth will always be sealed
Another day passes,the same as the last The eternal quest to forget all his past His body so frail,and his mind is caving in hoping and praying that this is the end.
At times he has thought that he was so close finally escaping the world he fears most that time never comes,his tears all in vain.
Alone in the dark,he bears all the blame Time passes by Year after Year Increasing his hate,never fading his fear his will has been broken,His mind torn and tattered Scraping to remember when anything mattered Convicted for hate,and death for his violence No choice was left he had to be silenced
Strapped to his chair,only moments to go the clocks face mocking,it’s hands move too slow The preacher had spoken “absolve all your sin release all your hate and give your heart to HIM”
“With his undying love, I’ve had my fill”
“Your God may forgive me,but I never will”
Can you feel the pain inside?
Can you hear the screams and cries?
Can you see my heart,so dark and so cold?
Can you show me the way to save my soul?
Untitled poem:
Waiting for life to pass me by,
Watching as loved ones suffer and Die
Screaming aloud with no one to hear
Alone and unwanted hiding the tears
my heart & Soul ripped from my chest
Her memory still haunting,the days move so fast
300 years since Ive been in her eyes
Orphaned By God he refuses my cries
The World ever changing but I stay the same
Forsaken by love hindered by shame
Once I knew Joy, But now only Pain
My Undying love,now all in vain
Selling my soul so she could be free
Denied at the gate,she’s martyred for me
Our marriage our bond in life and in death
While watching her die I felt my last breath
Awoken in horror the deal had been made
We both died together yet I had been saved
No breath in my lungs my skin cold and pale
My eyes are transparent my heartbeat so stale
My wish had been granted,but not how I thought
Damnation just starting my soul had been bought
Repentant and crying no cure for my plight
Another Demon has spawned a child of night
Stalking my victims, on their souls I shall feed
Remorseless and vengeful,never filling my need.
Yearning for Death to return to my love
Left to my Hell,SALVATION UN HEARD OF
Unappeasable hatred,from centuries past
Rage and Disgust,How can this last?
Eons have gone,with years wondering why?
With all pain and sorrow,even death has to die.
So now I lay waiting,in my tomb of despair
No will to go on,no soul left to care.
I hope she cant see me,for that I can’t bare
To see all my hatred and the evil I share
To lose her affection for the choice that I made
I’d rather live in my coffin than ever be saved
Without her Im lost and can never be free
She could never expect what I turned out to be
I miss the all warmth and I miss the Blue skies
I cant take all the sorrow Ill end it outside
As Dawn draws closer and dark turns to light
I remember her love and make evrything right

Nobody’s iller than this street killa
With his acapella, listen fella
The words he spits ain’t no shit
And if ya ain’t strong enough to battle you’d better quit
He spits fire and his words take you higher and higher,
Don’t hate, you’d better admire
His verses are called ‘ inspire ‘, if you disagree just retire
The words he will throw
Are not just for the show
Bro, you know, he’s authentic from head to toe,
He can make you scream the crow
So man you’d better put it slow
He’s a freestyler since a long time ago
Standing still, grabbing a word to kill
He’ll put you on the highest hill.
You wish you wasn’t a weak attacker
You’re tired, damn, you have tried, cried,
You’d better have died,you have been put on your knee by your enemy,
You’ve found a word hacker, a tracker
You’re left with a horrible wound
You ain’t worth no pound
Street Killa put you on the ground,
Out of your rotten mouth no sound
You’d better close the door
Or his gun will get you lying on the floor
You beg for mercy in vain, no return, no train,
He’ll get rid of you, now you’re feeling blue
Smashing your brain in the pouring rain
Ill Rhymer, street freestyler

Karnail Pitts aka Robert Beck aka Bugz was born in 1978 around May.
He was loved and appreciated by all the D12 members for his rapping skills.
His life ended tragically on May the 21st in 1999: he was only 21 when he died.
The circumstances of his death will make us realize the fragility of human life. Bugz died for nearly nothing:

The day of the show, Bugz, a friend, and his friend’s cousin werespending the afternoon at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park. An altercation arose when a man sprayed Bugz’ friend’s cousin with a high-powered water gun and she took offense. A heated argument ensued which escalated into a fistfight, and Bugz intervened on his friend’s behalf. At this point, a friend of the man with the water gun went into a Ford Expedition, drew a rifle, and fired at Bugz, who was looking away at the time. He was hit three times at close range, once in the neck, and once in the chest. The men then ran Bugz over in the Expedition. An ambulance was called, but due to traffic on the bridge to Belle Isle, it took them thirty minutes to get onto the island. Bugz was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he could not be saved. He had just turned 21.
Bugz untimely passing has only strengthened the resolve of Dirty Dozen members. “It just makes you look at life more serious,” Proof says. “”At this point, we’re trying to gather everything he recorded [to] make an LP.” The Dirty Dozen, who’d been working on releasing their debut EP, are now looking to release Bugz’ material in tribute.
On Thursday, June 24, the Federation Records family is holding a Bugz benefit at The Wired Frog in Eastpointe, Mich. featuring fellow Dirty Dozen member Bizarre, as well as Paradime, The Brigade, SUN, and Da Ruckus. The cost is seven dollars, with all proceeds going to the Pitts family. Bugz will also be featured on The Brigade’s upcoming 4-song 12″ due out on Federation Records next month. ‘ Werner’ (Source: Rolling Stone Magazine)

The D12 group was founded by Proof in 1995. It is known that the first three members were Proof, Eminem and Kon Artis who were joined later by an MC named Eye Kyu. Then Bizarre joined the goup. The sixth member was Bugz.
When Eminem was discovered by Dr Dre, he started his solo career with the release of the Slim Shady LP. Eminem was also trying to get D12 a record deal. He was supposed to lead the goup and to make few appearences.
Then Swifty Mc Veigh joined the group. He featured Eminem’s song ‘No One’s Iller’.
When Bugz was tragically killed, Eminem placed himself in the group.
Bugz’ wish was to have Swifty Mc Veigh as a member of the group.
Track 19 and 20 ‘Bugz 97’ (Skit) and ‘Good Die Young’ from the new D12 World album are dedicated to Bugz.
Before each show, the D12 crew prays for Bugz.
For his crew and for true D12 lovers, Bugz will live forever.

Swifty Mc Veigh
‘Don’t playahate, play along’
Ondre Moore aka Swift aka Swify Mc Veigh was born on May the 16th 1976 in Detroit.
He’s a member of the rap group Da RaBeez and, of course, of the D12 group.
Swifty particpated in 2000 to Blaze Battle and he also appeared on the Funk Master Flex and DJ Butter mixtape ‘Kill the DJ’.
Swifty Mc Veigh is often spelt different was, but the right spelling for his nickname is ‘Mc Veigh’, because the Oklahoma bomber Timothy Mc Veigh, inspired the rapper for his nickname.
About the man who inspired his nickname, Swifty says:
“I’m not saying what he did to Oklahoma was all good,but it’s just like, seeing him on TV, he was so nonchalant about it. Quiet, straight-faced, up-front, didn’t have nothin’ to hide. While pop-psych observations should be taken with a grain of salt, there’s more than a little resonance here with another close-cropped white guy who stared down a nation of critics and accusers and said, simply, “What.”
Who was actually Timothy Mc Veigh? You will learn more about him here:
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/terrorists/timothy-mcveigh
The huge difference between Swifty Mc Veigh and Timothy Mc Veigh is that Swifty drops his bombs on the mic.If you consider the lyrics of ‘Shit On You’, for instance, you will notice Swifty’s interest for terrorism, which is, of course, not to take at first degree:
‘I remain fatter than gluttony
Tapin’ bombs on the back of record companies (uh huh)
blow ’em up if they ain’t wantin’ me
The national guard- they scared of huntin’ me
I love beef- I got your hoe duckin’ me
A drug thief- Bitch I’ll take your marijuana
These slugs will keep your ass away from my corner
I drown niggaz in hundred degree saunas
You can act if fool if you wanna- BIATCH
It’s this lyrical piranha- strapped with a grenade in a pool with yo’ mama
attack her by the legs and pull her to the bottom
Twit lettin’ up like a condom
Slappin’ if you fuckas got a problem
When I see ’em- you hoes endin’ up in a fuckin’ mausoleum
or hidden in a trunk of a black and gold BM
Pull in a garage while you screamin’
keep the motor on and I’m leavin’
I’LL SHIT ON YOU…’
Deceased D12 member Bugz wanted Swifty to be part of the D12 group. You will certainly enjoy Swifty’s rhyming skills in songs like ‘Instigator’ from the Devil’s Night album which gives us a good example of Swifty’s scary psycho style:
‘I don’t give a fuck if we beefing or not
I squeeze first
I’ma heat up your spot
I’m a nigga that breathe dirt
On these streets everyday
Snatching nigga’s lle’
How you bitches needing work?
You can get it from McVeigh
I’m despiteful
I tie a hoe
A maniacal vile animal
Liable to leave you strapped with your Bible
I’m psycho
My bullets won’t fly by you
You wanna kill me?
You got the right to
Ain’t gotta wait till night to snipe you
If I don’t like you
You getting hit in broad day light with a white rifle
In front of your window I’m looking right through
I love when I see a nigga get stuck…’

A bored manicurist certainly wants her 15 minutes of attention in the press:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14159594&method=full&siteid=50143&headline=eminem-s-rubbish-in-bed–he-was-like-a-virgin-at-first-name_page.html
Nobody would really care about Kesia Alvarez if Eminem’s name wasn’t mentionned beside hers in an article from the ‘Mirror’. Her strategy isn’t new nor original, though: Todd Nelson, JR Watkins and Byron Williams have done it long before her.
All of them didn’t mind displaying a huge amount of details about Eminem’s sexual life. Kim’s privacy has, of course, been totally exposed too.
Kesia may have dated Eminem, she might know some intimate details about the talented rapper, but I find her exposure of some details despicable and most of them are probably a bunch of lies too.
Sexual life has to do with privacy and I couldn’t display what happened between me and my former lovers publicly. No matter if they’re famous of not. It is a very intimate sphere and I would be ashamed of myself if I acted like Kesia. Because Eminem is a public person, some people think they are allowed to give any detail about him. I’m sorry, but you have no right to do that: Eminem has the right to have a private life too. There is a part of him that doesn’t belong to his public and true friends would never reveal it.
I frankly doubt some of Kesia’s statements, not because I’m defending Eminem , but simply because they don’t seem to match with reality:
” He didn’t know how to excite a woman.’
Kesia wasn’t the first woman Eminem had dated in 1999. He has grown up with Kim and started dating Kim since he was around 16. He has had a long term relationship with Kim. It is also a known fact that he has dated some other women long before Kesia.
It is just so obvious that Kesia wants some attention. She also claims that she has been in love with Marshall. If her (past) love for him was sincere, she wouldn’t dare talking about ‘his manhood’ and particularly in demeaning terms. The lyrics of ‘Hey Lady’ talk about such behavior:
‘What we do under the covers should stay between the covers
And the two of us and we ain’t gotta be news coverage
On the front page cover of “Buzz’s New Lovers”
And this is when the bitch get to showin’ the true colors
Cuz the truth of it, everything that I do’s public
And you’d love it if you could run and tell all your friends
Guess who you just screwed, assume just me and you’ve done it
And say that you was rubbered and show ’em the proof of it…’
She claims to have loved him, but now she shows her true colors. No wonder Marshall hardly trusts anybody.
Kesia largely overrates her importance in Eminem’s eyes. It is laughable:
“Marshall is a wonderful father and adores Hailie. He told me that she was the only reason he was marrying Kim rather than me.”
Those words are demented by Marshall’s own words about Kim:
”Me and Kim, we been through our dramas and shit, but I’ve been bald-faced lying if I said I don’t love her or I’m with her because of my daughter. I’m with her, ’cause I really wanna be with her. I love that girl, man. I really do.”
If Marshall took the decision to marry Kim in 1999, it was because of the love he felt for her, not because of his daughter. True friends like Proof have confirmed it.
Kesia also suggests Eminem may be gay. Her arguments are just laughable:
“He’s very homophobic but I think he protests too much.
I NOTICED on tour that he was often surrounded by young men who seemed gay to me – particularly when we were in Europe – and he would mysteriously disappear sometimes.”
Besides her rumours about Eminem’s sex life, Kesia’s other ‘revelations’ are no mystery for Eminem’s true fan base. We all know that Eminem used to take drugs, particularly at the beginning at his career. We also know that Eminem doesn’t correspond to Slim Shady’s persona in real life. Other women who have dated him, such as Brittany Murphy have stated that they were treated respectfully by him. Fortunately, those women have more respect for intimacy.
Keep talking, Miss Alvarez, keep spreading your rumours. Nobody cares, except for scandal newspapers. You didn’t manage to make Eminem look bad, because your story looks fabricated for a large part. The only person you managed to make look really bad is you. Try to think about it.

Rufus Johnson aka Bizarre aka Peter S. Bizarre was born on July the 5 th 1976.
There is a story behind Bizarre’s nickname. He was called ‘Bizarre Kid’ by a teacher because he used to talk to himself and to rap in the class:
‘I was like 10 or so, in the 5th grade…I used to talk to myself and say raps to myself in the classroom and one day my teacher said I was a Bizarre Kid. I was just stuck.’
Bizarre’s character is as ill as his rhymes:
‘I’m the type of guy that talks to bums, I don’t avoid to greet them. I ask them for money, before they can can ask me.’
In 1998, Bizarre released his ‘Attack Of The Weirdos’. To Bizarre, ‘weird’ means out of norm, original:
‘I don’t mean in the literal sense, I’m tired of the same ol’ bullshit:jiggy this, player that…’weird in the sense that is out of norm, and people are afraid of stuff that’s different.’
KRS-One has been a huge source of inspiration for Bizarre who ‘loved how arrogant he was.’
About his own musical style, Bizarre says:
‘My style is unorthodox and ill- been that way till day one. I always wanted to be different. When I was young, I was battling niggas twice my age.’
Bizarre has collaborated with many artists such as Outsidaz young Zee, Pace Won, Rah Digga. He’s also done concerts with Redman, Alkaholiks and Method Man.
Bizarres rhymes distinguish him among his fellows in the D12 group: they are sick and funny at the same time. His talent and his originality could hardly be denied.
His collaboration with Eminem has brought him into fame. Before they were famous, Proof, Kon Artis Kuniva and Eminem used to hang out and to participate to the rap competion at the Hip Hop shop at 7 Mile Road. Before being famous, the five emcees already had some recognition on the local scene.
Bizarre describes his complementary collaboration with Eminem that way:
‘I would pick a lot of sick shit to my partner, Eminem, and we’d build off each other.’
Bizarre and Eminem combined: a beautiful example is shown through the ‘Amityville song’:
[Chorus: (Eminem)]
Mentally illll from Amityvilllle (ILLLL)
Accidentally killll your family stillll
Thinkin he won’t? God-damnit he willll (HE’SSSS)
Mentally illll from Amityvilllle
{HE’SSSS} – [on repeats only]
I get lifted and spin til I’m half-twisted
Feet planted and stand with a grin full of chapped lipstick [SMACK]
Pen full of ink, think sinful and rap sick shit
Shrink pencil me in for my last visit
Drink gin til my chin’s full of splashed whiskers [whoosh]
Hash whiskey and ash til I slap bitches [smack]
Ask Bizzy, he’s been here the past six years
Mash with me you’ll get in imagine this
[Chorus 2X]
[Bizarre]
I fucked my cousin in his asshole, slit my mother’s throat
{AHHHHHHHH!} Guess who Slim Shady just signed to Interscope?
My little sister’s birthday, she’ll remember me
For a gift I had ten of my boys take her virginity
{Mmm mm mmm!} And bitches know me as a horny ass freak
Their mother wasn’t raped, I ate her pussy while she was ‘sleep
Pissy-drunk, throwin up in the urinal (YOU FUCKIN HOMO!)
That’s what I said at my dad’s funeral
As the song goes on, the lyrics are getting sicker and sicker. The scary atmosphere that is introduced by Slim Shady (the character) a well known psychopath killer and sexual maniac is darkened by Bizarre’s huge amount of disgusting details about rape and crime. Both MC’s talent combined makes us enjoy the scary tale of ‘Amityville’.
It is less known that Bizarre collects shower caps and tire irons. He also has a passion for pets and loves to kiss them.
Rufus Johnson is a real nice person. I will never forget my short encounter with him at Paris Bercy.

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A 16-year-old who carjacked and robbed the mother of rap star Eminem was sentenced Monday to at least 4 years and 3 months in prison.
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?g6219_BC_MI–Eminem’sMomCarjac&&news&newsflash-michigan
James Antonio Knott of Detroit also was ordered to pay $3,473 in restitution to Debbie Nelson, 49, Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Margaret Scott said.
Knott pleaded guilty to carjacking and armed robbery charges in the Jan. 22 attack on Nelson at an Oak Park gas station located on Eight Mile Road — made famous by her son’s movie, “8 Mile.” She said she suffered bruises, a broken foot, neck pain and insomnia.
Nelson was present for Monday’s sentencing hearing but did not make a statement, Scott said.
Circuit Judge Fred Mester sentenced Knott as an adult, but the teen will be segregated from inmates older than age 21, said his attorney, J. Herbert Larson of Sylvan Lake.
Knott faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. But with credit for good behavior and nearly three months’ time already served, Knott could be released before his 21st birthday, Larson said.
Nelson said her attacker waved a silver revolver in her face, punched her in the head and dragged her and her dog out of her 2002 Honda Accord. Police arrested him after he got stuck in traffic about a mile from the gas station and fled on foot, Scott said.
Nelson has said she thinks Knott should be punished, but that her “main concern is that he’s rehabilitated and won’t do this again.”
Nelson’s rocky relationship with Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has been well-known since the Detroit rapper became a star. He has disparaged her in his music and she has settled two defamation lawsuits over his statements that portrayed her as an unstable drug-user

‘If I was you, suicide would be a way of life. If you was me , you’d kill you.’ (Proof)
Before I start talking about D12’s gifted Mc Proof, I would like to thank and to give credit to the webmaster of the following Derty Harry website for the rare info I found about Deshaun Holton aka Derty Harry aka Proof:
http://angelfire.com/bxc3/dertyharry/main_bio.html
Deshaun Holton aka Proof was born on October the 2nd 1975 in Detroit.
Although they didn’t attend the same High School, Eminem and Proof have been friends since 1988. They used to live in the same street in Detroit.
Proof used to go to Osbourne High school while Eminem was attending Lincoln High. Both friends used to skip high school in order to rap together: in fact Eminem skipped Lincoln High and used to come to Proof’s school very often, because both friends wanted to rap together. This is how they met:
‘I was skipping school, and he was skipping school also, passing out flyers for his concert he was having in Centerline. That had to be, like, ’88 or something.’ (Proof)
Some (white) underground Mcs from Detroit like Backstab the Kingpin are convinced of Proof’s racism. But Deshaun’s statements seem to prove the contrary.
CDNow has asked Proof how he felt about Eminem’s skin color at the time they met:
CDNow: Did you wonder what this blond, white kid was up to?
Proof: ‘You know, I went to Catholic school and had a great, great friend of mine who happened to be Irish; we were best friends since the sixth grade. So when I saw [Eminem] was white, I didn’t even jump off like that; when he rapped, he was dope. What made us get dope and become great friends was we both rhymed “first place” and “birthday,” and we’ve been tight ever since [laughs].’
Eminem and Proof have been real friends since the beginning. When Eminem was kicked out of his home, he would sleep at Proof’s house.
It is well known that Proof is an amazing freestyler.He won the freestyling competition in the Source magazine in 1999. He his a better freestyler than Marshall, but Marshall’s force is in the way he handles his words in his lyrics. That’s exactly what Proof states about their complementary talent:
‘We were both impressed with each other. The advantage I’ve got over Em is freestyling; I’m the kind of guy who freestyles off the head, right? The advantage he had over me was that he knew how to write intricately; he knew how to put a song together and bring feelings about. That’s why I journeyed under him, like, “Yo, show me the ropes, homeboy.”
The idea of the D12 group composed of talented MCs and sick aliases with popped into Proof’s mind:
“I was in New York; I had this deal with Tommy Boy that didn’t work out, unfortunately. But I just had this idea that we could put together a team of dope MCs, put a lot of Detroit on as far as having MCs with skills. Everybody’s solo took so we’ll make aliases, like Eminem’s Slim Shady and I’m Derty Harry, and call it the Dirty Dozen — and at this time, to be honest with you, we thought The Dirty Dozen was a Western movie; we didn’t know it was an army movie [laughs].
That fits us, army rather than Western, ’cause we see ourselves more as gun-slingers, lyric-slingers. Then the idea was to form a pact whereas this team, whoever gets out first comes back and gets the rest of the group.”
Proof has always been confident in Eminem’s loyalty, even if some other members of the group may have been worried:
‘Not me; I’ve been there since day one, almost. I think the rest of the group may not have been there, but Proof has been beside Eminem all this time. I play a leadership role in the group, where I talk to everyone else; Em is like the president, and I’m the general. I talk to the rest of the fellas and put ’em in line and show ’em the direction. It’s a family, too, so there’ll be a lot of fighting and bickering, and some people might have felt it might not be the way it should be. So, yes, there were times when people felt funny about things. But now everybody thinks back to that, and we were tripping out over nothing.’
Acccording to Proof, Eminem’s success was the best thing that could have happened to D12:

Right. Some people look at us like, “You’re gonna be Eminem’s group. You’re gonna be in his shadow.” They don’t realize how positive and great that is to hear; if you’re in the shadow of a guy who can sell almost 10 million records in just the states alone, great. That’s not a dis to us. But when they hear the album, they hear the individuality of each person, how everybody holds their own.

It is so true that each D12 emcee has his own talent and ability to rap.
It is less known that Proof’s first stage name was ‘Maximum’. Proof has always been appreciated in Detroit for his raps and his freestyling qualities. He changed his nickname when people started calling him ‘Living Proof’, because in many people’s minds, Proof was the ‘living proof of the living MCs in Detroit”.
Proof has collaborated and still collaborates with numerous artists such as Dogmatic.
Proof’s first released Cd was called ‘From Death’ and was co-produced with Da Goon Squad.
He has released a CD called ‘Promatic’ with Dogmatic and a six Track solo EP called ‘The Search For Jerry Garcia’.
As well as for Eminem, Detroit has been very influencial to Proof who describes his hometown as ‘the type of place where eye contact can get you killed’ and also as ‘ a city where the sun never shines, full of pot holes, snow and con artists ready to jack everything you got’.

The D12 crew is composed of 6 talented and hardworking emcees from Detroit. Since the beginning of their carreer, D12 has been targetted by the media and negatively criticized ‘for making money by exploiting the world’s misery’. D12’s first fight is against censorship and it is all about freedom of speech. It seems like their fight has been facing many difficulties mainly due to to the FCC’s censorship. Being asked in an XXL interview about political censorship, Eminem and Bizarre expressed about the problems they had to face with the ‘Purple Pills’ song:
XXL:But politics have hit you before. Like when you had to change ‘Purple Pills’ to ‘Purple Hills”did that bother you?
SLIM: That bothered the fuck out of us.
BIZARRE: It bothered me. But then when I heard lil’ kids rappin’ it, I would rather them rap the clean version than the bad.
So did you fight it until the end?
BIZARRE: We lost.
SLIM: I mean, we could stick to our guns and say, ‘Look, we’re making it ‘Purple Pills.” And then guess what? No radio play, no record sales. If you want to eat, this is what you gotta do. You change ‘pills’ to ‘hills.’ It’s the difference between ‘mills’ and ‘bills.’
If you ask me, one of the most hypocritical censorships is MTV’s censorship of ‘Without Me’ where you will see ‘a little bit of weed’ replaced by ‘ a little bit of me’ while ‘hard lickor’ remains authorized.
Besides their fight for freedom of speech, the D12 are fed up to be confused with some artists of the fake world of pop. The song ‘My Band’- that has also been misunderstood by some people since its release- is all about that kind of confusion. Many people actually take Eminem for the lead singer of a band. It often angers me when Eminem gets called a ‘singer’. I do feel the same when D12 gets called a ‘band’.
Because he’s blond haired and white, many people who have no idea what Eminem is about confuse him with a pop artist.
Eminem and D12 are hip hop and it’s high time people realized it. Eminem never intented to be the ‘leader’ of the D12 group. The D12 group exists since 1990, long before Eminem launched his career. The creation of the group was Proof’s idea. D12 is a story of friendship and loyalty. The first to become famous was supposed to do something for his fellows:
‘We made a pact years ago, “which ever one of us gets signed comes back for the rest.’ (Eminem)
Eminem never forgot his friends who grew up in the same place as him and a similar background. Their roots are hip hop and it would be a big mistake to call them ‘singers’ instead of ‘rappers’.
When the ‘Devil’s Night’ album was released, the 6 emcees had to face a lot of negative criticism. ‘Devil’s Night’ is nothing else but a true reflection of life in the Detroit underground. I remember Eminem saying on MTV how much hard he had worked with his fellows on that album. And this time, he wasn’t joking.
The D12 crew has also another important point to prove. I have heard so often:
‘Eminem can rap so well, but the other MC’s of the group are worth nothing. Their lyrics suck and they’re bad rappers.’
Which is so untrue.
The 5 other emcees of the group are gifted. A better examination of their solo work will make people realize their individual talent. Eminem is brilliant, for sure, but his fellows are doing excellent work too. If you take a deeper look at their work you will find Bizarre’s ill rhymes funny and amazing. You will certainly enjoy Proof as a solo artist and see a gifted freestyler in him. You will certainly love Swifty’s wicked rhymes and enjoy Kuniva and Kon Artis’ voices and parts inside of a D12 song. ‘D12 World’ is also about that:
Eminem’s friends want to show you their talent if you just agree to have a look.
Won’t you give them a chance?