D12

D12
Background Information
Members	Bizarre Kuniva Swifty McVay Past members: EminemW Proof † Mr. Porter Bugz †
Genre	Midwestern hip hop • horrorcore
Years Active	1996 — present
Additional Information
Website	Official Website

D12 (an initialism for The Dirty Dozen) is an American hip hop collective from Detroit, Michigan.

Role in Gorillaz

In September 2001, D12 (excluding Eminem) collaborated with Gorillaz on the track 911, featuring Terry Hall of The Specials^W. The collaboration arose from a pre-arranged session that fell on the day after 9/11^W. During said session, the band found themselves stranded in London, unable to return to the US as all air travel to the country had been suspended. The song was released on 7 December 2001 as a free download via Gorillaz' and D12's official websites.

D12 later joined Gorillaz on stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom^W in New York City on 28 February 2002, to perform 911.

Musical career

D12 was initially formed in 1996 by Proof, who invited his friends Bizarre and Bugz, as well as members of the local Detroit rap group Da Brigade: Kon Artis and Kuniva. Despite having six members, the band was named D12 because each member had an alter ego that they displayed in their music, meaning there were 12 personalities in total. In 1997, they released their debut EP, The Underground, featuring Eminem^W and Eye-Kyu. On 21 May 1999, Bugz was fatally shot and subsequently replaced by Eminem, who became the band's de facto leader. One of Bugz's final requests was also for Swifty McVay to join the band.

D12 released their debut album, Devil's Night^W, on 19 June 2001. This was the first release by Eminem's record label, Shady Records^W. The album debuted at number one in the US and number two in the UK, also reaching the top of the Canadian charts. The album went on to sell four million copies worldwide, and two million in the US. Their sophomore album, D12 World^W, was released on 27 April 2004 and featured production by Eminem, Mr Porter, Dr Dre^W and Kanye West^W. The album also featured guest appearances by Obie Trice^W and B-Real^W of Cypress Hill^W.

Proof's tragic death on 11 April 2006 marked a turning point for the band, leading to Eminem's departure and subsequent hiatus. Between 2008 and 2015, D12 released three official mixtapes, featuring a core lineup of Bizarre, Kuniva, and Swifty McVay. Eminem made some token appearances, and Mr Porter and Fuzz Scoota contributed to a few tracks. On 31 August 2018, Eminem released his tenth studio album, Kamikaze^W, which contained a song titled Stepping Stone^W, in which he announced that D12 had officially disbanded.

In 2021, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release, Devil's Night was re-released digitally as an expanded edition featuring three bonus tracks, an unreleased freestyle and instrumentals. In 2023, former members Swifty McVay and Kuniva reunited and performed D12 songs as the support act for several shows on Snoop Dogg's I Wanna Thank Me Tour. Later that year, they performed in the UK and the Netherlands to celebrate the 20th anniversary of D12 World.

Gallery

D12 on the 911 single cover

Trivia

• It was rumoured that D12 and Redman were to record brand new material for the scrapped Gorillaz film, Celebrity Harvest, though it is unknown whether this ever materialised.
• EMI initially insisted that Gorillaz' second studio album should be produced by Eminem's production crew. However, Damon refused to stay in Detroit for six months, ultimately meeting Danger Mouse and producing Demon Days with him.