What Happened To D12? Here's Everything Eminem's Former Groupmates Have Been Up To
Before Eminem rose to fame with The Slim Shady LP in 1999, he was a part of Detroit-based rap collective D12. The group consisted of six best Motor City emcees and their violent alter egos: Eminem (Slim Shady), Proof (Derty Harry), Denaun Porter (Kon Artis), Swift (Swifty McVay), Kuniva (Rondell Beene), and Bizarre (Peter S. Bizarre). The group has been through several line-up changes, but their first two albums, Devil's Night (2001) and D12 World (2004), sold millions of copies, making them one of the most bankable hip-hop groups during their peak.
Unfortunately, things took a steep downhill after their de jure leader, Proof, passed away after a tragic shoot-out in 2006. Since then, things haven't been the same, as all the members of the group 'didn't feel right to reunite' without Proof. To sum it up, here's everything they've been up to.
8 Eminem Is Gearing Up For His Super Bowl Halftime Show Debut
Shortly after Proof's death, Eminem went through his very own dark times, combined with his already terrible addiction and highly-publicized hip-hop feuds. He had a near-death experience after collapsing in his bathroom, but later managed to fight and announced his sobriety in 2008.
Over a decade later, he added several albums to his impressive discography and broke some more records, including being the first musician to own ten consecutive number-one albums. Now, at the latter stage of his career, Eminem is gearing up to perform for the biggest stage of them all: the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2022, alongside the likes of his mentor Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, and Mary J. Blige.
7 Proof Passed Away In 2006
There's no talking about D12 without mentioning DeShaun 'Proof' Holton, the man behind the idea. While many must've hailed Eminem as the group's leader, it was Proof who glued all the members together. As mentioned, the rapper passed away in April 2006 after a pool game went wrong at CCC Nightclub in Detroit, Michigan.
"Doody, most of my life it's just been me and you there/ I continuously stare at pictures of you/ I never got to say 'I love you' as much as I wanted to, but I do," Eminem raps in a 2010 leaked track 'Difficult.' "Yeah, I say it now when you can't hear me/ What the f--- good does that do me now?"
6 Bizarre Released Mixtapes After Mixtapes
Although he's never achieved a commercial success like his early D12 days, Bizarre still gained momentum among the underground hip-hop fanbase. His last full-length studio album, Rufus, was released in 2019, but he still actively releases mixtape after mixtape. He even went to collaborate with his former D12 mate, Eminem, on the latter's Music to Be Murdered By album on the track "Those Kinda Nights."
5 Denaun Porter Served As Eminem's Hype Man & Released His Solo Projects
Proof's passing also left a void in Eminem's career as a hype man, and Denaun Porter filled the gap shortly after. Although he initially left the group in 2012, Mr. Porter reunited again with his former bandmates on the track 'Bane' from Shady Records' Shady XV compilation album in 2015. In 2019, the rapper/producer enjoyed one hell of a year after releasing two albums in the same year: Letter to Sydney (instrumental) and While You Wait.
4 Kuniva Joined Twitch
There are many ways for rappers to connect with their fans, but for Kuniva, he took to streaming giant Twitch to play games with his fans as DertyKUNIVA, a nod to his late friend Proof's persona. Up to this writing, the channel has over 14k followers, in which he often broadcasts his Apex Legends gameplay when he's not in the studio. Kuniva is still actively making music, as his latest album, Alpha Underdog, hit the streaming platforms in 2020.
3 Swifty McVay Released 'Detroit Life'
Swifty McVay is also still making music. In fact, he had a small reunion with former D12 mate Kuniva on their 2020 collaborative album, My Brother's Keeper. On the track "My Why," he even gave a shout-out for Em and the latter Proof for paving the ways of their careers. McVay's latest solo album, Detroit Life, was released last year.
"Thank you to all who contributed to this album. Thank you to all who preordered, shared and retweeted the cover. And I salute every one who genuinely f**k with your boy," the rapper took to Instagram.
2 Fuzz Scoota Left The Group Circa 2011 Amidst His Feud With Eminem
Carlos 'Fuzz Scoota' Rabb was also one of the original members of D12. Unfortunately, he was absent during the group's commercial peak due to his feud against Bizarre and Proof. After the latter's death, Fuzz rejoined D12 and appeared on the group's mixtape Return of the Dozen Vol. 2 in 2011. In 2015, Kuniva confirmed that Fuzz left D12 for the second time.
1 Bugz Was Murdered In 1999
Before Eminem joined D12, there was Detroit-based rapper Bugz. He was just starting out in the late 1990s as a solo artist in the Detroit underground community and as a D12 member before his death in 1999 from multiple gunshots, leaving a space in the band for Eminem to fill. D12's debut album, Devil's Night, was released in his memory.
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