 Three Grammys, two Source Awards and 14 million
records later, the artist known as Eminem (a.k.a.
Marshall Mathers) continues to exceed expectations.
Now Marshall Mathers, entrepreneur, will officially
introduce the world to five more of Detroits wildest
wordsmiths via his new imprint, Shady Records. D12,
a.k.a. Dirty Dozen (Proof, Kon Artis, Bizarre, Kuniva,
Swifty, plus the Shady One himself), made their red
carpet debut with Devils Night in June 2001.
Named after the notorious night before Halloween in
which the city's relentless youth run amok, Devil?s
Night features Em and company tearin? mics over
production from Dr. Dre, DJ Head, Kon Artis and Eminem.
Raw and rambunctious from the outset, D12 includes
Em and five of his Motor City comrades who, like him,
double up on their personas in order to unleash more
energy: Denaun, a.k.a Kon Artis; Big Proof, a.k.a.
Dirty Harry; Swift, a.k.a Swifty McVeigh; Kuniva,
a.k.a. Rondell Beene; and Bizarre, a.k.a. Peter S.
Bizarre.
The six-man crew met seven years ago at Detroits
Hip Hop Shop, a local hangout where emcees of all
calibers would gather to drop a verse or two during
the stores open-mic sessions. Still unknown, Em had
stepped to a local producer, Kon Artis, to come up
with some beats for Ems indie release Infinite.
Meanwhile, word about the ill white boy was getting
around to another of Detroit?s most notorious emcees,
MC Proof. The two squared off and instantly gained
respect for each other.
Most members of D12 had already established
themselves throughout hip-hop?s underground segment
with their respective solo careers. Bizarre
independently released his debut EP, Attack of the
Weirdos in 1997. Swifty was earning his stripes as one
half of the BMG/Mecca Don Records recording artist,
Rabeez, while Proof released the indie singles,
Searchin and Anywhere." Instantly finding a
common bond with their outrageous subject matter, the
assembled forces honed their skills under the alias
D12 (six members x two personalities = D12).
While all members made their debut on Under the
Influence, off the Marshall Mathers LP, the world got
an official full dose of D12 with their first release,
Sh*t On You, a sinister, off-the-wall tirade featuring
the production skills of DJ Head.
Their debut album Devilsnight was released in April
2001 and reached the top 10 in the USA and the United
Kingdom. Since then Eminem has released The
Eminem Show on which D12 appear on the track
"When the Music Stops" and Proof has
released an album with his fellow rapper from Promatic,
Doggmatic and Proof's has recorded his debut solo album, "Searchin
for Jerry Garcia". D12 are now currently working
on their 2nd album, and it is due for release sometime
in mid 2004.
Biography from: D12Online.com
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To listen to D12
Audio, click here.
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To watch D12
Videos, click here.
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To view D12
pictures, click here.
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