HipHopDX's Remembering Proof Feature. It's a good read.

[QuietTruth]

They say he fired first.

The drama unfolded early Tuesday morning outside the CCC, a bar located on 8-mile road in Detroit. It started as basic garden-variety club violence: an argument escalating to pushing- then shoving, and ultimately gunfire. It usually ends in a cleared club, perhaps an arrest or two. Unfortunately sometimes it ends in casualty, when someone looking for trouble actually finds it. On Tuesday, April 11th, Proof found his.

Details are sketchy, but according to the Associated Press, Proof allegedly shot Keith Bender, 35, in the head, and was then subsequently shot (along with another man) by an unknown assailant. The victims were taken to nearby St. John Holy Cross, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. According to Detroit police, Mario Etheridge, a 28-year-old bouncer at the CCC Club, where the shooting occurred, is now in custody.

For millions of Proof fans across Detroit and across the world that was the end of the story. Let’s go back to the beginning.

HHDX spoke to Proof last summer, while he was on the road promoting his first solo album Searching For Jerry Garcia. Known for his effortless yet direct flow, Proof began his rap career by ending trying to end others’.

“Man, it started by going to this club called The Wisdom Kitchen hosted by Maurice Malone, I went there and rocked the open mic a few times, then from there he opened his store (Maurice Malone’s Hop Shop), and I started taking the open mics to clubs that didn’t even necessarily do open mics, like regular dance clubs… cause I was the guy known for the open mics, you know? That’s how the whole free-styling thing came about.”

Searching for Jerry Garcia represented Proof’s exploration as a solo artist, but it was not his first taste of recording success. D12’s multi-platinum debut album Devil’s Night sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. The group followed it up with a second multi-platinum album D12 World in 2004. It was Proof's idea to form D12 in the mid-1990s, when the members met at Detroit's Hip-Hop Shop, a clothing store by day and hip-hop club by night. The six-member Detroit-based rap group counted Eminem among its members.

Before Proof and Eminem, there was Deshon Holton and Marshall Mathers. Proof was more than Eminem’s right-hand man, he was his friend. The two rarely made public appearances without each other, and Proof’s on-stage presence became an integral part of the Eminem show. In an eerie foretelling of things to come, the video for Eminem’s song “Like Toy Soldiers” depicts Eminem pacing a hospital hallway as doctors try to revive Proof, who has been shot. Later, Eminem attends Proof's funeral.

Those who knew him stress his humanity and kindness. Long-time friend and fellow artist 1st Borne remembers Proof as the truest friend imaginable. “Proof was very inspirational… most kind hearted person I ever met. He would give a total stranger the shirt off his back literally if it was necessary that he or she needed it.... He touched many people in his own individual way. And his work ethic was phenomenal...I witnessed him do a mix consisting of 20 songs in 24hrs... He was my best friend... more than that even, he was my brother.”

Proof was certainly not the first artist to lose his life to gun violence. Unfortunately he may not be the last. But while he was here, Proof touched many people’s lives, both through his person and his music. He was searching for something, and for that he deserves our respect.

In his words…
“You know what man? Its’ so many things that I point to Jerry Garcia from my life right now. One is his demise came from stress drugs and poor diet, and that makes everybody searching for Jerry Garcia. The other thing is that he was a true epitome of an artist. I mean… in hip hop this art form is so lost, so I’m searching to become a true artist in hip hop.”