It’s very rare to see Eminem popping up for a live performance these days. The often reclusive Rap God has been more visible lately as he promotes his latest chart-topping album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), including a totally surprising hop-up in London on Thursday night (July 18, 2024) to support his long-time friend and mentor Dr. Dre.
Slim Shady surprised the crowd at the launch event for Doctor’s new canned drinks line with Snoop Dogg, called Gin & Juice, when he jumped on stage at Flippers Boogie Palace to join the party hosted by former NBA great Shaquille O’Neal. But first, Dre and Snoop rolled through a set of some of their most beloved songs, including “The Next Episode,” “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” at the event attended by celebrities like LeBron James, Idris Elba, Virgil Van Dijk and Jude Bellingham among others.
Near the end of the set Dre introduced Eminem, who ripped through the first single from The Death of Slim Shady, “Houdini” with Denaun Porter before they kicked “Forgot About Dre” togther. Em shared the video of his “Houdini” performance on his official YouTube channel.
Though Em has not announced a run of dates to support his new album, he will appear alongside Muse, Thirty Seconds to Mars and Richie Hawtin at this year’s Soundstorm festival in Saudi Arabia in December. Before that, Eminem is set to perform at Crawford/Madrimov fight night on August 2 and he and Sting will headline the Germania Insurance Super Stage at the 2024 Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix on October 18-20th!
Meanwhile, you can watch the “Houdini” performance below:
D12 have released their mixtapes on every major streaming services. Return of the Dozen (2008), Return of the Dozen Vol. 2 (2011) and Devil’s Night: Reloaded (2015) are all now available for the fans to stream on Apple Music, YouTube Music and Spotify. Tapes that are still not available on digital platforms are Detroit, What! (Demo Tape) (2000) and Mixtape (Limited Edition) (2003).
Return of the Dozen Vol. 1 was released on May 21, 2008 under Shady Records and Interscope Records. This was their first project since the passing of the group’s leader Proof in 2006 and it was designed to get them back on their feet in preparation for new possible content. Eminem notably doesn’t appear on the tape at all, as he was busy recording his sixth solo studio album Relapse. The tape includes guest appearances from Royce Da 5’9″, King Gordy, Willie The Kid, Marv Won among many others. It also includes tracks “We Back” and “Suicide” produced by Eminem and “Plead For Your Life” produced by Denaun Porter.
Return of the Dozen Vol. 1 was released in 2011 and is a follow-up of Vol. 1. Its most popular song is “Fame (Going Crazy),” which includes Eminem’s only appearance on the whole tape, produced by Denaun Porter. Features include Trick Trick, Kid Vishis, Young Buck, King Gordy, Young Zee, Maestro Williams and Seven The General among others. The mixtape also includes “Canon (Freestyle)” remix to Lil Wayne’s “Canon” song which is arguably the best track on the album.
October 30, 2015, D12 came back with another mixtape Devil’s Night: Reloaded hosted by DJ Whoo Kid. Prior to this mixtape’s release, D12 confirmed Eminem would feature on it. However, Em was noticeably absent from the project upon its release. D12 claimed Eminem “tried as much as he could, but he couldn’t make it in time to the release of the tape.” Fans were reasonably disappointed so hours after the original release of the project, a reloaded version named The Devil’s Night Mixtape: Reloaded was published with a new track as the intro, containing solely Eminem rapping acapella for two minutes-circa. The album features guest appearances from Royce Da 5’9″, Kxng Crooked, Lazarus, Kidd Kidd, Young Buck King Gordy and T3 of Slum Village.
D12’s 2008 mixtape called Return Of The Dozen, Vol. 1 is now available on streaming services.
Return of the Dozen is the third mixtape by D12. It was released on May 21, 2008 under Shady Records and Interscope Records. This was their first project since the passing of the group’s leader Proof in 2006 and it was designed to get them back on their feet in preparation for new possible content. Eminem notably doesn’t appear on the tape at all, as he was busy recording his sixth solo studio album Relapse.
The tape includes guest appearances from Royce Da 5’9″, King Gordy, Willie The Kid, Marv Won among many others. It also includes tracks “We Back” and “Suicide” produced by Eminem and “Plead For Your Life” produced by Denaun Porter.
The album cover concept is very similar to the trailer of Eminem’s upcoming album “The Death Of Slim Shady,” which is dropping in the next 9 hours, so it can’t be a coincidence… You can stream the mixtape on Apple Music and Spotify below:
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge fan of D12 and all things Shady Records. When I heard 2/6 of D12 were coming to my city along with Obie Trice, you know I had to jump on it. Naturally, I had to grab the VIP meet and greet pass too.
When the day finally came, I was unreasonable, just as nervous as I was excited. I felt like I was about to have Mom’s Spaghetti on my sweater. As I was waiting in line for my turn to meet D12, I was greeted by a man who I wasn’t familiar with. I later learned this was the hype-man/DJ that was touring with them, DJ Invisible. This guy is a ray of sunshine. His smiley persona is contagious in a way that just makes you feel comfortable where you are.
While waiting in line, I decided with my buddy that we’d meet them at the same time. We thought this would take some pressure off. Once we finally got to the front of the line, I had a nearly out of body experience as I first shook hands with Swifty. I told him how I’d been a fan of his since way before I was old enough for his music. Next, I shook hands with Kuniva. I told him I had a part in writing an interview he did for Southpawer a while back. He told me it was a great script and tied it off with a “Much Respect” acknowledgement.
As Swifty and Kuniva happily signed my D12 CD, I started making small talk. My buddy asked Swifty what his favorite track he’s ever recorded is. Swift told him he can’t really give an answer because it would be like trying to choose a favorite child. I joked with him and said “Well, you have to say you don’t have a favorite child, but secretly, deep, deep down you do”. Swifty sort of chuckled and said “Alright, I’d probably say “Loyalty” then.” Finally, we turned around to snap one of the most awkward but cherished photos in my personal history.
These guys are incredibly easy to talk to. They’re very welcoming and all about their fans. Meeting these guys feels like meeting up with a close friend that you haven’t seen in years. I get the impression that they don’t take anything they have for granted and they don’t feel entitled to have fans that have hung around to the end.
Once the D12 meet and greet was over I hung around the bar in the same room as D12 as they continued to meet more fans. I took this opportunity to make my way to the front row of the stage. Before the show started, an artist by the name of Hinch did about 30 minutes of material. I never heard of him but he definitely knows how to warm up a crowd.
Once Hinch wrapped up his set, he said goodbye to the crowd and it was time for DJ Invisible to step in and prepare us for Obie Trice. A short time later, Obie sneaks onto the stage and slips right into “Got Some Teeth”. This is one of my favorite Obie tracks, so I was very happy to see him open with it.
A short time into the set, Obie stopped to pay his respects to Nate Dogg. As he prompted the audience to all put 2 fingers in the air for Nate Dogg, he continued to perform “Look in My Eyes.”
One of the most surprising moments of his set is when he decided to tell a little untold story about Akon. I believe this was when he met him for the first time.
I was really happy to hear him perform his verse from one of the deeper album cuts from Eminem‘s Encore album, “Spend Some Time.” The hypeman also made the crowd to scream “Shady Forever” a few times.
Next, Obie did his verse from the track “S–t Hits The Fan.” Despite the fact that Obie had to cover Eminem’s part while the background vocals play, you almost don’t notice. There’s something to say about such a level of energy and validity about someone’s performance when you almost forget Em wasn’t in the room.
Speaking of Eminem, Obie humbly paid massive respects to the man himself, Marshall. It’s truly touching to hear Obie counting his blessings and not taking his Shady connection for granted.
Obie finished his set with a very raunchy rendition of “Shake That.” He invited some women from the crowd to come dance with him and things got a little… interesting. Let’s just say that it was the type of dancing that is very appropriate for “Shake That” and maybe not appropriate for children.
As Obie walked off the stage, I noticed the crew setting up for D12. I was in the first row, so I was close enough that I could actually see their setlist guide that they taped to the floor, nice!
Dj Invisible opens for D12 and hypes the crowd up.
DJ Invisible came back out on stage to keep the hype at it’s maximum while we patiently waited for D12 to make their entrance. As he comically appears to start levitating a giant D12 cap from underneath the table to his head. Soon after, D12 opens with “Rap Game”. This guy oozes charisma and DJ skills. I also very much enjoyed his wacky giant D12 hat. D12 finally came out with the crowd losing their minds; every arm in the building raised higher than Shaq on his tiptoes.
Still high off that introduction, they double up on it with “S–t On You.”
One of the biggest highlights of the entire show was when they pulled out a cover of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”. The crowd knew the words so well you could barely hear D12. The icing on the cake is when a female fan snuck on stage and started dancing with them until security had to remove her.
The hype never died down for a second during the entire show. The guy’s were determined to make that a fact. Towards the end, Kuniva and Swift even went head to head in a hype battle.
To close the show, Obie Trice returned and joined the rest of the gang for a few tracks. If I remember correctly, I believe they wound the show down with a performance of “Loyalty”
After the show, I had one thing left to do. I had to navigate through a club full of staggering drunk people and find Obie. He was supposed to be there before the show, but he was late. This made finding him after the show a little chaotic. Thankfully, I found the man and told him how incredible the show was. I pull out my Devil’s Night CD and ask for an autograph. I said “I believe this was your first appearance on the Shady Records label, if I’m not mistaken!” He paused for a second, looked at the CD cover and immediately quoted the first bar or so of his “Obie Trice” skit. I’ve never been more star-struck in my entire life. As he happily started signing the booklet of the CD, I sort of chuckled and said, “Yeah, exactly!” As I’m about to pass out from exhaustion, I get my picture with Obie, he signs, I thank him one more time and leave with some incredible memories…
You can also watch D12 performing some of their greatest hits below:
Detroit hip-hop pioneer Esham has recently sat down with Kid L where he discussed his timeline from before rap, during rap, his first album, his encounters with D12 and Eminem, and his closure of the situation with Detroit legend Big Proof. They also discussed his concern for culture protection for the city of Detroit.
Esham lying about 8 Mile
Proof from D12 used to go to my high school. I’m the person that made him want to be a rapper. I had rap records out when I was in high school. I was that person who did all of that. And me, I would help everybody, that’s just how I was raised. There is no outlets for musicians in Detroit. There is no Universal Records downtown, there is no Interscope record downtown so that frustration, that’s what got people out here just mad because they’ll do anything to get that record deal. I’ve seen so many people in the movie 8 Mile, none of them could get a record deal after that. Not one of them. Even being in that huge movie. It was a fantasy or something? I never seen 8 Mile movie. I live on 8 Mile, I know what real 8 Mile look like. It’s a rap movie about a rapper that be punching motherf–kers in the face of the city of Detroit. That s–t never happened. I got a question for Em. Why Proof could not play Proof in 8 Mile?
Esham lying about Eminem restricting Swifty McVay, Bizarre and Kuniva from mentioning D12 by using the N word
Did I have opportunity to sign to Shady Records? No. Why would I want to be a part of that. I don’t have nothing against them but they don’t actually put records out. I mean, whose records did they put out? Is it a real record company? Last time I checked Em said don’t say D12 in any records no more. He was like ‘y’all motherf–kers don’t say don’t say D12. It’s heavy on the ER when he said n-gger to him too. Did he call them n–gers or something? He was like ‘f–k you n-ggers.’
Esham lying about Proof and getting beaten up by D12 members
Bizarre said that they jumped me back in the days. First of all, Bizarre was over there getting some hot dogs from hot dog stands. He was not even there. Rufus needs to stop lying. But in all fairness, that was about the City of Detroit, that was not about no raps I made. We come from era of rap where you gon’ say my name then b–ch I’m coming. And I’m the only person that lyrically defeated Eminem. Hands down, flawless victory. He didn’t even respond. It was like me beating up on a baby. I don’t have nothing against these guys. You have to ask them why would y’all be talking about this man and he from the city. I just feel like it was an attack on my character. People who physically assaulted me…I’m from Detroit man, we really don’t be talking about that type s–t. It was 30 of them n-ggas but I’m still here. We were fighting Proof and them. Proof was the one we were fighting but Proof ain’t here anymore. And I squashed all that with Proof. I’m the reason that beef got squashed. Proof called me right before he died. He made up with me. He told me bunch of stuff about his label and all the discrepancies that he had and all the stuff that was going on over there and what Paul Rosenberg and all of them were doing over there to him and how they played him and stuff like that. I know what he said and I know what he went through. But we were man enough to squash that s–t.
Esham justifying himself form mentioning Eminem’s daughter Hailie in a diss record
Yeah, I said something about Eminem’s daughter. So what? That n-gga can say anything he wants about somebody. When you say my name, it’s on! This is f–king rap n-gga. You said something about Christopher Reeve when he was paralyzed? What about his family? You said something about Michael Jackson, that’s my motherf–king boy, now what?! Ain’t no motherf–kin’ ‘you said something’. If he still butur about that, f–king good! Good b-tch! I’ll say it again! F–k him.”
Eminem and Esham had a beef in the early 2000s. Esham released a disstrack on Eminem called “Chemical Imbalance” where he also dissed Eminem’s little daughter, Hailie. D12 members beat up Esham because of that song. Esham suffered a broken nose, ruptured eyeball, mild concussion and a loss of hearing in his left ear…You can watch the new interview below:
After touring in Europe, D12 (Swifty McVay and Kuniva) are back on the road with Detroit’s own Obie Trice and Xzibit to celebrate the 20th anniversary of three iconic albums — D12’s D12 World, Xzibit’s Man vs. Machine and Obie Trice’s blockbuster Shady Records album Cheers. The legendary Detroit MCs will take stages in Canada, Australia and New Zealand for The 3: Twenty Anniversary Tour.
Canadian Tour (without Xzibit) has already started on March 6, 2024: in Barrie, Ontario. The Detroit legends performed some of the their biggest hits from Devil’s Night and D12 World albums. Last night, they also payed homage to Eminem by performing his magnum opus single “Lose Yourself,” with Jake Bass playing on the guitar and DJ Invisible behind the boards. In December of 2023, Jake, who is a son of Jeff Bass from legendary Bass Brothers, became a touring member of D12, playing guitar with them internationally, opening for Ice Cube, Cypress Hill and De La Soul under the name “Dirty Jake.”
REMANING TOUR DATES. Dates for Canada tour:
March 18: Halifax, Nova Scotia
March 19: Moncton, New Brunswick
March 27: Vancouver, British Colombia
March 28: Nanaimo, British Colombia
March 29: Victoria, British Colombia
March 30: Kelowna, British Colombia
March 31: Kamloops, British Colombia
April 1: Vernon, British Colombia
April 3: Edmonton, Alberta
April 4: Calgary, Alberta
April 5: Lloydminster, Alberta
April 6: Brandon, Manitoba
April 7: Winnipeg, Manitoba
April 8: Winnipeg, Manitoba
April 17: Chilliwack, British Colombia
April 18: Burnaby, British Colombia
April 19: Nanaimo, British Colombia
April 20: Port Alberni, British Colombia
April 21: Victoria, British Colombia
April 23: Nelson, British Colombia
April 25: Banff, Alberta
April 26: Lethbridge, Alberta
April 27: Medicine Hat, Alberta
April 28: Red Deer, Alberta
May 9: Thorold, Ontario
May 10: Montreal, Quebec
May 11: Quebec City, Quebec
May 12: Kingston, Ontario
May 13: Hamilton, Ontario
May 14: Saint Catherine’s, Ontario
May 16: Windsor, Ontario
May 17: North Bay, Ontario
May 18: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
May 19: Guelph, Ontario
Dates for Australia tour (3 dates):
June 21: Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane
June 23: Forum, Melbourne
June 25: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Dates for New Zealand tour (2 dates):
June 28: Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch
June 29: Trustarena, Auckland
Watch videos of D12 and Dirty Jake playing “Lose Yourself” for the crowd below:
Super producers Denaun Porter, Focus… and Dem Jointz have come together to form a brand new supergroup by the name of “Read The PDF” and released their much-anticipated debut EP, titled “BY THE TIME YOU LOOK UP N.C. WHAT WE DOIN’”.
The new project includes 8 tracks in total, including previously released singles “BY” and “THE TIME.” All of the songs were performed, written, produced, mixed and mastered by Denaun, Focus… and Dem Jointz… Until we review the project, you can enjoy the new release below!
Detroit battle rap legend Calicoe has recently sat down with Kid L where they talked about his come up in the battle scene, and even being named by Proof. He tells a story of D12‘s Bizarre, making safety a priority during a rap battle that almost went left. They also talked about the Ultimate Rap League and his relationship with Smack.
“Bizarre is my dawg. If I would never told nobody that Bizarre helped me a lot in my situation and put me in position to win, nobody would know cause he never tells nobody. He would never tell nobody. Proof never tell nobody.” – said Calicoe.
Then he continued: “Proof was getting behind me before he passed. The night Proof died, I was downtown at his studio, whole night, waiting for him to come back from a bar cause I was too young I could not even get in to the bar. So, I could not go with him to the bar. I was doing a mixtape at his studio. He was going to push whole mixtape for me. He died that night, I went to school next morning seeing it on the news and they were like ‘D12 member has been shot.’ They didn’t even release the name. My blood cousin is Kuniva and everybody around me calling, making sure he okay and then we found out it was Proof.”
“That was some crazy s–t for me. I’m young as hell and somebody saying to me they gonna do this for me, they gonna put the album together, I don’t gotta pay for nothing, it’s all good, they believe me and then they die. I don’t even tell that story a lot. Bizarre carried on what Proof was doing. A lot of people don’t know Future in 8 Mile is Proof. A lot of people don’t know Proof had long dreads back in the day. A lot of people don’t understand that Proof was behind battle rap.” – Calicoe added.
Kuniva of D12 has recently responded to people who claim Eminem might also be using ghostwriters, in the context of Slim Shady may also was getting some help when he was in the studio with D12 or Royce 5’9″.
Benzino has recently admitted to having help writing his Eminem diss track but claims he spit the rhymes and “killed it.” He also said that Royce 5’9” sometimes ghostwrote for Eminem too. In the video clip, shared couple of weeks ago, Zino says: “People ask if somebody else wrote it. Look, I was in the studio, and I was in the studio with some guys and I was writing and they was passing me lines and it was just, yeah, you got the team. It’s alright. I’m sure Eminem is also in the studio with Royce and Royce give him lines. All the amazing lyricists that he has been around, you don’t think they gave him a line or two? It’s hip-hop. It’s okay! Bottom line was, I spit it and the bottom line was, I killed it. And bottom line was, a lot of s–t I’ve been researching for years, as far as the stuff that’s in it. Yeah, of course I wrote that.”
In response, Royce commented on Diverse Mentality‘s Instagram post, saying: “You said “I’m sure when Em is in the studio ROYCE gives him a line here and there” Wrong.. THAT NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE.. Not even once… But to each his own…”
CyHi The Prynce has recently sat down with Math Hoffa and the rest of the crew on My Expert Opinion and suggested that Eminem might also has ghostwriters in positive way: “You think he ain’t have no ghostwriters? Man, you ain’t sitting around 12 n-ggas just f–king smoking blunts. It’s called D12. It’s called Proof. It’s called all them n–gas he grew up with.” He then made clear, however, that he was not necessarily saying those people wrote bars for Eminem. Instead, he said that it was important for rappers to surround themselves with people who bring them “thoughts,” “ideas,” and “experiences.”
Now D12’s Kuniva speaks out. The Detroit rapper has shared a video of Warren G talking about Eminem writing for Dr. Dre: “Eminem is dope. I ain’t saying Game ain’t dope but Eminem is…You gotta look at what motherf–ker wrote. Things just ain’t the same for gangstas. He wrote that for Dre! That’s one of my favorite f–king songs. How the f–k can you write this for this ni–a and the s–t sound like it’s him. And that motherf–ker went diamond plus, diamond plus, diamond plus and all that s–t. He’s talented. I ain’t taking s–t from Game, Game is dope too. But they different. The Game is also student of the game, it’s just Eminem…I promise you that motherf–ker wrote that s–t like he was inside Dre’s body in his head. That s–t was so mothef–king hard.” In the caption, Kuniva wrote: “When they talk like my big bro Eminem has a ghostwriter. How SWAY?! A ghostwriter who needs a ghostwriter?? Get the f–k out of here. GOAT. Shout out to the big homie @regulator.”
Check the post below:
When they talk like my big bro @Eminem has a ghostwriter. How SWAY?! A ghostwriter who needs a whostwriter?? gtfoh. 🐐 shout out to the big homie @regulator 💯💯🫡 pic.twitter.com/afQu9LNWZk
Few days ago, Benzino said has proof of Royce Da 5’9” ghostwriting for Eminem and the evidence is coming from one of D12 ’s members.
Zino said on Instagram: ““I finally got the proof I needed. Someone in their inner circle (D12) just confirmed it. Royce has ghostwroted for your rap god Eminem. Neither one of them p-ssies have responded and when they do I will not only release more diss tracks but I will also release the info I have that proves it. So stay tuned hip-hop, it’s about to go really crazy.”
D12’s official facebook page has recently shared Southpawer’s video of Benzino’s Drink Champs interview where the former co-owner of The Source magazine got emotional and started crying over Eminem beef and other matters.
One of the fans commented: “He needs help. He tried to drag you, D12 into this mess saying one of you confirmed Royce was ghostwriting for Em” On which, D12 replied: “None of us talk to him. Therefore we didn’t confirm anything.”
Someone commented: “I’ve been an Eminem fan since day one, so naturally dislike Benzino, but watching this I actually felt for him. He’s a mess. I think he is so frustrated at the state of “black America” that he’s taken his frustration out on Eminem. The drunk Benzino actually spoke a lot of sense. The ego was gone. The bravado was gone. For once I actually listened to him and thought, you know what bro, I see why you chat the shit you chat. He’s a very disturbed and frustrated man. Hopefully this can be a turning point for him. I hope Em can see this too and say, f-ck it. He’s a tired donkey. Just let it rest now. It’s not even a contest. Bro needs therapy.” On that, D12 replied: ”He’s not frustrated with the state of “Black America.” He was frustrated that he couldn’t get ALL black people to side with him.”
D12‘s Devil’s Night mixtape, released back in October 30, 2015, is now available on all streaming platform worldwide.
The mixtape is a follow-up of Return of the Dozen Vol. 2 (2011), and the continuation to their 2001 debut album Devil’s Night. The tape features Eminem, King Gordy, Lazarus, KXNG Crooked, Kidd Kidd, Young Buck, Royce 5’9″ and T3 from Slim Village.
On Halloween eve, Shady Records fans were a little disappointed to find out that there was no Eminem feature on the mixtape, but a great verse still counts even if it arrives late. DJ Whoo Kid eventually shared Devil’s Night Reloaded, which includes a chilling acapella verse from Eminem on “Devil’s Night Intro.” Eminem tweeted: “Went in the lab real quick, now @djwhookid has it reloaded.”
D12 had previously explained to VladTV that the timing didn’t work out for Em to appear on the original version of the project. “Eminem didn’t make this project at all. He tried as much as he could, but he didn’t make it. We could’ve waited for him to go ahead and do it, but we wanted to really just let people know that we’re also emcees too and we can handle ourselves. We know how to do this sh-t.”
After 9 years, the mixtape is now available on all streaming platforms. You can bump it below!
Bizarre from D12 has just dropped a new video freestyle called “8 A.M,” rapping over Drake’s “8AM in Charlotte” beat, from Dreezy’s 2023 album, For All The Dogs.
In the song, Bizarre throws a little shot at Benzino with the following lines: “I’m in Reno, at the Casino, with this ugly white b–ch I met from Bingo. She’s 62, said she went to school with Benzino.” Biz probably making fun of Benzino’s age.
The former co-owner of The Source magazine has recently dropped the Eminem diss record “Rap Elvis,” which is response to Eminem‘s jabs on “Doomsday Pt. 2.” In “Rap Elvis,” Benzino throws shade at Bizarre and the rest of D12 rappers with the following lines: “Okay, you found 50, and you put on five Detroit ni–as / Rest in peace to the best one, the rest of them sound iffy.”
Eminem signed 50 Cent to his label Shady Records and helped greatly in making 50 Cent blow up and become a huge success. Before he found 50 Cent though, Eminem had tried to help the five members of his group D12 blow up and he did two albums with them. Benzino says Big Proof, who was shot and killed in a Detroit nightclub on April 11, 2006, was the best member out of the other five and the rest of them suck.
