D-12 Proof interview with CDNOW.com

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D12 member Proof (real name Deshaun Holton) met one Marshall Mathers III, a.k.a. Eminem, in 1988, when each was skipping school to put up flyers for their respective rap shows. The two young hip-hoppers became fast friends and pledged allegiance to each other in their careers -- which Proof made good on when he asked Eminem to join D12, the group he formed with another local MC, Bizarre (Rufus Johnson), a decade ago.
Eminem, of course, made his own name before the group thanks to the GRAMMY Award-winning multi-platinum efforts The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP, but he held up his end of the bargain by maintaining his membership in the group and including Proof -- and occasionally the rest of D12 -- in his live shows. Now Eminem has made D12 the first signing to his Shady Records label and served as executive producer for the group's debut album, Devil's Night (a two-CD version with more songs was released in Europe).




One of the year's most highly anticipated releases, Devil's Night (read the CDNOW review) is as provocative as Eminem's own releases, with its lyrics about drugs, booze, weapons, raping grandmothers, having sex with pit bulls, and exacting violent revenge on enemies. The usual pop targets -- Britney Spears, 'NSync, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Pee Wee Herman, Destiny's Child, even the late Princess Diana and Eminem's estranged wife, Kim -- are all skewered, while the bonus track "Girls" slaps viciously at Eminem's Anger Management Tour mates Limp Bizkit for siding against him in the feud with singer-rapper Everlast. "I love being under your skin," Slim Shady notes on the album, and after waiting a long time for this moment, Proof says D12 is poised to follow its most famous member into the international spotlight.

CDNOW: How did you meet Eminem?

Proof: 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.

Did you wonder what this blond, white kid was up to?

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].

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."

"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."


How did D12 come about?

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.

Were the rest of you worried that Eminem might not come back for D12?

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.




Ultimately, though, Eminem's success was the best thing that could have happened for 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.

The city of Detroit might be a little upset with the Devil's Night title [because of the history of arson in the city on that night] and with the image of a lighted matchbook on the cover.

It doesn't matter, man. Why do people get mad about what exists? We didn't invent none of this -- you know what I'm saying? Devil's Night was here; we're talking about it, that's all. See, the whole idea when D12 was formed was to say shit that everybody thinks, but nobody wants to say. Nobody wants to talk about a handicapped girl; nobody wants to talk about fat people. This shit exists. It's so funny, 'cause nothing we say or do, even what Em writes, we don't create it; it's all hear on earth. We only talk about what we see, 'cause we're reporters.

People don't like hearing about it, though, especially in terms as raw as you employ.

Well, no matter what, there's always gonna be both sides of everything, the good and the bad. And once you get the bad you get the very bad, and once you get the very bad you get the outrageous, and you keep going on and on. I basically feel that as far as the reception of the fans, they'll be satisfied. And as far as the critics and the activists, we're gonna keep work on the table for 'em [laughs]. We keep them in jobs.

"Why do people get mad about what exists? We didn't invent none of this -- you know what I'm saying? Devil's Night was here; we're talking about it, that's all."


In light of Eminem's own problems, "Pistol Pistol" is a bit of a surprise.

That's deep, 'cause it goes through Eminem's everyday life, his little court case he was going through then. But if you listen to the song, we don't make reference to killing cops or [anything] like that. It's not really talking about killing or nothing; it's basically about the love some people have for their guns ... which is crazy, but that's America, right?

How did you like working with Dr. Dre?

It's incredible, man. It's the best in the game and probably will be forever. Some people are excellent beat-makers, and a lot of people are just producers or just arrangers. [Dre] knows how to work the machines, knows how to work the board and play a little keys; he knows how to do a lot of [stuff]. On top of that, he knows how to arrange; that's something a lot of producers lack. And what he also has that a lot of people lack is vision, to hear something and really see where it's going and really paint the picture, musically, of the vision that he has. It's dope, man.

What are your expectations for Devils Night's sales? A lot of people seem to think it's going to go through the roof.

I don't know about all that; I expect us to sell 200 copies our first week [laughs], 2-0-0, that's what I expect. I don't want to jinx it, man. I don't want to be talking about stuff like that. It's scary to me.

[Jay ay Beee]

Thanks
Dope

[Last Dragon]

I'll give it to Proof.  He's brutally honest.  He does seem like EM's right-hand man.  I'm intrested in hearing his solo album.