I Got It MADE

With Eminem absent working on his new upcoming album The Relapse, Kon Artist away working with Dr Dre on The Detox, and Proof’s tragic slaying in 2006, you’d be forgiven to think it’s pointless for the remaining members Kuniva, Swifty and Bizarre to hit the road on their own, but to the surprise of many, the D12 brand is still going strong. With the three members present and accounted for, we caught up with Bizarre, Kuniva and Swifty after their show last week at the O2 Islington Academy as they prove that they're still as dirty and raw as when they came out. Interview by Jerry Gadiano.

RWD: So how have you been?

Swifty: Real good man. A little tired but we still at it.

What have you guys been up to since the release of the Re-Up Mixtape?

Swifty: Been in the studio recording new material, coming with new ideas, coming with new plans for the future and touring.

What was the mixtape you released after the Re-Up?

Bizarre: Return Of The Dozen Part 1 and we got Return Of The Dozen Part 2 dropping soon. You can expect original material on Part 2, almost like a mini album. We got Three 6 Mafia, Swizz Beatz and Dr. Dre on there.

What’s it like not touring with Eminem and having the Eminem factor around you?

Kuniva: We used to it. We been used to it since the first album, we did our first album tour without him. But we’re used to it cos we know how each other work, we work with each other all the time so it’s nothing to it really, it’s second nature.

What can you tell us about the Em’s upcoming album Relapse?

Swifty: It’s gonna be crazy, he’s got a gang of new material and he’s gonna be dropping another album this year. Two bombs in one year, it’s just the art of reinventing yourself. A real way of bringing it to a whole another level and you just appreciate it.

Is D12 going to feature on the album?

Bizarre: Yeah definitely, we contributing and help write and do some songs, so go buy it.

Kon Artist wasn’t there with you guys at last night’s performance, where was he?

Bizarre: He’s back home in the states working with Dr. Dre on The Detox and they’ve got a deadline on that album.

How did you guys feel about Obie Trice leaving the Shady camp?

Kuniva: We didn’t really feel no ill feelings or anything, I mean it was business a decision on his part. He did something he thought that would be a good decision for him so it’s nothing personal it’s just business at the end of the day. But Obie is still fam, it’s that it is what is.

So can we still expect D12 to working with Obie Trice?

Kuniva: D12 will work with anybody, if we happen to come across each other and do some songs then we’ll do ‘em. We have different schedules but whenever we see each other and get in the lab it’ll happen.

How much did it effect the group as an entire unit when Proof died?

Swifty: Man it put everything on hold, it was like putting a pin in the hot air balloon and all the air was seeping out and it was going flat. We took it hard, but we just knew deep down in our soul that we had to keep that energy going that we know that he would’ve wanted us to have. Still miss him. Can’t fill that void, but we still keep him alive through reminiscing, listening to his songs, he always had material, there’s still some tunes to this day I’ve never heard before [laughs], he keeps me inspired so his spirit lives on.

Did you feel to put the mics down after he died just like Run DMC did when Jam Master Jay died?

Swifty: Nah he wouldn’t have wanted us to do that.

Kuniva: That was the last thing on our mind and Proof would not have wanted us to do that and he wouldn’t have done it so we gotta keep on going and honour him cos he would have done it for us just like we did for Bugz.

What’s your favourite memory of Proof? Any funny stories?

Bizarre: [Laughs] Not a enough time or space on your recorder.

Swifty: [Funny British Accent] Fellas I gotta go home! [Everyone bursts out laughing].

Kuniva: There’s just a lot of stories, I can’t even think of any. One thing I always remember though was when we went to LA to shoot the video for The Real Slim Shady Proof picked up a dead pigeon off the ground and he chased us down the street and Bizarre was in the lead, he was ahead of everybody, he beat everybody, he was scared to death of that pigeon. We were all running and it was just fun.

Swifty: I remember the Hip Hop Shop and we’d have all these album covers on the floor and he used to host The Shop. I told Proof ‘Man you should get your album cover put on the floor with all the rest of the artists.’ He looked at me and said ‘No Swift, cos if I get in a battle and someone’s standing on my face they gon’ use it against me’. [laughs].

Bizarre: He was the Mayor, there’s nothing higher than that.

You guys ever get to kick with J Dilla?

Swifty: Oh yeah.

Bizarre: That was our homeboy. He did a couple tracks on my first independent EP.

Swifty: He always did something for us demo-wise from back in the day, he was a very big part of our demos. When he got signed he came outside The Hip Hop Shop we were congratulating him and throwing him up in the air, he was like one of the first producers in the D that got put on. Proof and Dilla had a crew called the Funky Cowboys, we used to ride around the neighbourhood bumping their tape. I used to go to Proof’s house and he’d give me new material with beats that Jay Dee made and him rapping over it. It was amazing man them two had chemistry.

Did you feel that D12, Eminem and Slum Village opened up the gates for Detroit?

Kuniva: Definitely, we definitely opened up the opened for Detroit. Us, Eminem, Slum Village, Royce Da 5’9’’…all of us opened the doors for Detroit big time. They can’t front on us and say that we didn’t, we influenced them in some kind of way, whether it was lyric-wise or personality-wise or whatever, we got a big influence on Detroit.

Swifty: I think they put a few statues somewhere of us holding a mic [laughs].

With new artists like Black Milk how do you feel about the status of the D right now?

Kuniva: That’s our fam right there, we were just chilling him a couple of days ago, him and Elzi. He’s definitely dope, he’s a dope producer and he’s a dope MC, I like hearing all his stuff.

Swifty: We got much respect for him, he’s electrifying. Everybody’s getting at him, asking him for beats left and right, and he’s inspiring other producers from the D to come on up.

Kuniva: It’s good to see him carry the flag for rapper/producer type of artists just like Dilla was so that’s what’s up.

What did you guys think about that YouTube viral video It’s Cold In The D?

Kon Artist: [Laughs] It’s cold in the D man, that’s what it is. It’s cold that’s all we can say.

Bizarre: The weather is cold as hell [laughs].

How do you feel about the hip hop scene at the moment in terms of music and creativity?

Kon Artist: You got a lot of different things going on so it’s always good to have artists with like that different vibes and stuff, but I like those artists, I don’t like to call ‘em retro kids, but I like The Cool Kids, Kidz In The Hall, they bring a lot of different flavour to hip hop right now. A lot of them were on that XXL Freshman cover, couple those guys really got something.

What do you guys think about Asher Roth?

Kuniva: He’s cool, we were talking about him the other day. Swifty was talking about him the other day.

Swifty: Yeah I was complimenting his song I Love College the other day. He connecting, he got a nice little flow man make me raise my eyebrows up.

Bizarre: Yeah he’s pretty cool, he’s not pretending to be something that he’s not, he’s just doing him.

Can we expect a D12 album to be coming soon?

Kuniva: Yeah definitely, right now what we doing is just re-launching the label, we gonna be coming off the back with Em’, he’s gonna do his thing and you know D12 is coming straight after that. We just gearing up, make sure everybody gets that Relapse, it’s about to happen.

Swifty: Make sure you get that Return Of The Dozen Part 2.

Any last messages for the fans?

Kuniva: Thanks for supporting D12 through the years, we appreciate the love and much respect to y’all and look for a moment for y’all to hear from us and God Bless.

Sparks37

Propz.......

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In stores on December 15th.