D12: Detroit, Death, and Dr. Dre

D12 was a hardcore hip hop group out of Detroit formed by Proof. It was supposed to be a way to showcase all of Detroit's best talent and get them all play, much in the way that Wu-Tang Clan has worked. And it worked, especially for the most popular member of D12. Who was that? None other than Eminem.

Other members of D12 included Bizarre, Eye Kyu, Da Brigade, Kon Artis, Bugz, among others at one time or another. Proof at one time had the group even disband on him, having to reform it in the late 1990s around the time that Eminem left to pursue his solo gig.

And what a solo gig it was! Eminem of course got his big break in 1997, when he released the album "The Slim Shady." Somehow, someway, Dr. Dre got his hands on it, and then the master producer of NWA, The Chronic, and Snoop Dogg fame got Eminem signed to his Aftermath/Interscope label. All the while Eminem was making it big, though, he tried to keep the D12 plan in place and get his buds signed as well.

Slim Shines

That's what Eminem did. In 1999, he and Dr. Dre released the first full Eminem album, "The Slim Shady." The D12 record outgrowth would sell as many as 4 million copies in America alone. And as part of his new found success, Eminem did not forget about his homies back in Detroit.

He quickly created his own label under the Interscope Umbrella and called it Shady Records. Who was the first act that Eminem signed under his new label? No doubt it was D12. The group even started to tour again after getting signed. That is, they toured until one of the stars of D12 got shot, Bugz.

Though Bugz's death was a tragedy, it ended up working out for the group. Eminem decided that the group should not end their tour because of the death, so he rejoined D12 to take Bugz's place as much as he could. They also all recorded a D12 song in Bugz' honor, called "Good Die Young" as well as included another D12 song with some of Bugz's lyrics in it called "Bugz 97."

D12 on Their Own

The group had two smash D12 records to their name. The first D12 record was the 2001 "Devil's Night," while the second was 2004's "D12 World." Both albums came out swinging at number one on the charts. Some of the D12 songs that helped create that popularity were "My Band" and "How Come," as well as the D12 single off the Shark Tale movie soundtrack, called "Lies & Rumors."

Some of the D12 members also tried to go the way of Wu Tang by having more than one member go solo. Eminem obviously had already made it big, so D12 members Proof and Swift tried as well. The experiment here didn't work so well. Sadly, Proof got shot in 2006 and killed. Swift got sent to jail for a time. Yet a third D12 record is supposedly on the way.

From D12 to Hip Hop Music