Biography
Controversy and media scrutiny tend to shadow Eminem at every turn. Public ambivalence toward the rapper prompted five other Detroit rappers, all between the ages of 23 and 25, to unite with him in the sextet D12, also known as the Dirty Dozen. Bizarre, Swift, Kon Artis, Proof, and Kuniva announced their mission with the pledge that they were “here to bring the sick, the obscene, the disgusting.” Their arrival suggested a direct successor to the explicit provocations Eminem had unleashed on the 1999 Interscope album Slim Shady and the 2000 Interscope single “Way I Am.”
D12’s debut full-length, Devil’s Night, issued by Interscope/Shady in 2001, carried similar shock potential through its earlier 2000 single “Shit on You.” After a three-year interval the group resurfaced with D12 World in 2004, which included guest spots from Obie Trice and B Real. Bizarre and Proof had originally formed the crew around 1990; its ranks grew once Proof recruited his childhood acquaintance Eminem, who had lived nearby but attended a different high school, along with the remaining members. Beyond their shared goal of inflaming rap’s already contentious atmosphere, each member adopted an alias and bore a tattoo of the name Bugz, the former colleague fatally shot at a picnic party.
The roster, presented without prescribed order and pairing legal names with stage monikers or alter egos, comprises Rufus Johnson, also known as Peter S. Bizarre, a participant in Da Outsidaz alongside Rah Digga and Eminem who has appeared in outlets such as The Source and received Inner City Entertainment’s Flava of the Year award for September 1998; Denine Porter, known as Kon Artis, a producer for the group, and also as Swifty McVay, who joined D12 in 1998 after Bugz’s death; Von Carlisle or Hannz G., performing as Kuniva and formerly part of Da Brigade with Kon Artis; and Deshaun Holton, known as Proof or Dirty Harry, recognized for freestyle prowess after winning the Source Magazine Freestyling Competition in 1999. Proof died April 11, 2006, from gunfire at the after-hours club CCC on Eight Mile Road in Detroit. D12, and Eminem in particular, were shaken yet vowed to continue; that May, Kon Artis confirmed the next album would incorporate unreleased tracks featuring Proof.
D12’s debut full-length, Devil’s Night, issued by Interscope/Shady in 2001, carried similar shock potential through its earlier 2000 single “Shit on You.” After a three-year interval the group resurfaced with D12 World in 2004, which included guest spots from Obie Trice and B Real. Bizarre and Proof had originally formed the crew around 1990; its ranks grew once Proof recruited his childhood acquaintance Eminem, who had lived nearby but attended a different high school, along with the remaining members. Beyond their shared goal of inflaming rap’s already contentious atmosphere, each member adopted an alias and bore a tattoo of the name Bugz, the former colleague fatally shot at a picnic party.
The roster, presented without prescribed order and pairing legal names with stage monikers or alter egos, comprises Rufus Johnson, also known as Peter S. Bizarre, a participant in Da Outsidaz alongside Rah Digga and Eminem who has appeared in outlets such as The Source and received Inner City Entertainment’s Flava of the Year award for September 1998; Denine Porter, known as Kon Artis, a producer for the group, and also as Swifty McVay, who joined D12 in 1998 after Bugz’s death; Von Carlisle or Hannz G., performing as Kuniva and formerly part of Da Brigade with Kon Artis; and Deshaun Holton, known as Proof or Dirty Harry, recognized for freestyle prowess after winning the Source Magazine Freestyling Competition in 1999. Proof died April 11, 2006, from gunfire at the after-hours club CCC on Eight Mile Road in Detroit. D12, and Eminem in particular, were shaken yet vowed to continue; that May, Kon Artis confirmed the next album would incorporate unreleased tracks featuring Proof.
Albums
Singles
