D12 | |
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![]() D12 on the Anger Management Tour in 2005 | |
Background information | |
Also known as | The Dirty Dozen, D-12 |
Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
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Past members |
D12 (an initialism for the Dirty Dozen) is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 1996, the group achieved mainstream success with its lineup of de facto leader Eminem,[3] Proof, Bizarre, Kon Artis, Kuniva and Swifty McVay.
D12 had chart-topping albums in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia during the early 2000s.[4] The group released the albums Devil's Night in 2001 and D12 World in 2004, spawning numerous hits such as "Shit on You", "Purple Pills", "Fight Music", "My Band" and "How Come" throughout that period. Both albums were certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[5]
In 2004, the group won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Act.
Since 2006, Eminem's hiatus and the death of Proof resulted in the group being less active in subsequent years. Between 2008 and 2015, D12 released three official mixtapes with the core lineup reduced to Bizarre, Kuniva and Swifty McVay, with isolated token appearances by Eminem and some contributions from Mr. Porter (formerly Kon Artis) and returning '90s affiliate Fuzz Scoota.
On August 31, 2018, Eminem released his tenth studio album Kamikaze, containing a song titled "Stepping Stone", on which he declared that 'D12 is over,'[6] indicating his formal retirement from the group after many years of inactive membership. Bizarre, Kuniva and Swifty have continued to tour and record as D12.[7][8]
The music journalist and author Dan Sicko describes certain strains of Detroit hip-hop as 'an extreme, almost parodied' version of inner city life, which he links to the extremities of urban decline in the city: 'both the horrorcore of hip-hop outfits such as Insane Clown Posse, Esham and (to a lesser extent) the multi-platinum-selling Eminem, utilize shocking (and blatantly over the top) narratives to give an over-exaggerated, almost cartoon-like version of urban deprivation in Detroit' (cited in Cohen and Strachan, 2005).
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