The group D12 was formed in 1996 when Detroit emcee DeShaun "Proof" Holton invited local rappers Da Brigade Denaun "Kon Artis" Porter & Von "Kuniva" Carlisle, as well as Karnail "Bugz" Pitts and Rufus "Bizarre" Johnson to join him. The following year, the boys released their first effort, "The Underground EP", which featured guest appearances by Marshall "Eminem" Mathers and Willie "Eye-Kyu" Drake. Over the next few months, the group's members began to gain attention and a following, with Bizarre releasing his own EP, "Attack of the Weirdos", Proof winning a freestyle contest hosted by The Source, and Bugz releasing his own EP, "These Streets", shortly before he was killed on the eve of a concert in 1999. Bugz's friend Ondre "Swifty McVay" Moore later joined D12, as did Eminem, who volunteered to replace Bugz.
After the success of Eminem's two albums with Interscope Records, the emcee signed the group to the label and the collective began working on the creation of their first studio album. The album's title comes from the Halloween tradition of burning abandoned houses on the night before Halloween, a popular practice in Detroit that is also depicted in the Eminem-produced film "8 Mile" (2002). Mathers, the album's executive producer, handled most of the production alongside his longtime collaborator Jeff Bass, Dr. Dre, DJ Head and Denaun Porter. The set was completed by live instrumentation provided by Jeff Bass on keyboards, bass and guitar, Mike Elizondo on guitar, bass and keyboards, Scott Storch, Luis Resto and Camara Kambon on keyboards, Ray Gale on harmonica. RnB singer Truth Hurts, who was signed to Dre's Aftermath at the time, is a guest on the album, along with Dina Rae, who has previously guested on Slim Shady's records.
Thematically, what do you expect from a posse album? Even if you were to guess, you would easily hit the topics covered in these nineteen tracks (five skits). On the production side, the CD seems to be filled with beats discarded from Dr. Dre's "2001" sessions and those of Eminem's last two albums, the set is overall poor. Denaun Porter, who is a member of D12, starts the dance right away with the rhythm of "Shit Can Happen": he places cacophonous synths, an illegal hi-hat, heavy drum poor and cheap sounds. The rhythm is horrible to host the first posse of the group. "Pistol Pistol" also features Proof and Bizarre, but the rhythm is still weak.
The first guest on the album Truth Hurts is present on "Nasty Mind", one of the few tracks where Eminem is not present on a sweet production conceived by Dr. Dre exploited to execute a sexual cut. "Ain't Nuttin' But Music" is beyond saving, it's a real Dre outtake with out-of-place synths, a messed-up drum and a bass that arrives late to the party, and is already drunk and at the wrong party. The song is in any case chosen as the third single of the album. Another single from the album is "Purple Pills", where Mathers invents a dance production for this posse in which all six members of the group appear. This song becomes a global hit that reaches the first place in the rap charts of the US, UK and Australia, becoming one of the best-selling songs of the year also in Europe.
Dr. Dre is also behind the keyboards for the album's fourth single, "Fight Music", a well-made cinematic production featuring the full D12, in one of their best moments. The song is a hit in Europe, even if it's ignored in the rest of the world and doesn't enter the charts in its homeland. One of the last noteworthy productions is that of "Relevation", not surprisingly again made by the doctor. Dark-flavored boom bap, bright electric guitar licks, Eminem's pained hook referencing Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall II", sparse midtempo drums, chunky bassline, elegant piano in the background. Bizarre kills the cut with the first verse dropping crazy bars with his calm flow. Kon Artis follows in his wake spitting hardcore. In the third verse Eminem shows up with a loose style, his chorus, then space for the last three verses. Swifty McVay relaunches the track, Kuniva grabs it and delivers with one of his best flows, opening the floor to Proof. He drops an entire stanza dedicated to the Columbine boys with a hardcore, angry, focused, inspired rapping. The album is closed by a minimal beat by Luis Resto, driven by a sweet piano line, in which Eminem shows off his colloquial style to offer a hidden track, "Girls", which quickly turns into a diss against Limp Bizkit, Dilated Peoples and Everlast.
None of the six members are present in all fourteen tracks of the album, excluding the skits. Kuniva, Swift McVay, Eminem and Kon Artis boast twelve appearances each, followed by Bizarre (11) and Proof (9). D12's first studio album is released by Shady Records and Interscope, distributed by Universal. The limited edition also contains the promotional single "Shit on You", another international hit by the group that is a sensation both at home and overseas. The album is released at the height of Marshall Mathers' popularity and talent, obtaining an exciting commercial response: in the first week it sells over 370,000 physical copies, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and returning there a few weeks later, beating Alicia Keys' new album by a hundred copies. The album is also number one in Canada (three times platinum) and among the rnb releases in the UK and Australia, reaching the top ten throughout Europe, where it snatches certifications, reaching platinum in its homeland three months after the release.
Overall, it's as if the young guys of this promising group from Detroit have decided to remake "Slim Shady LP", but with worse music, worse lyrics, worse rapping and no personality. The result is a disappointing and weak horrorcore album. These battles all sound a bit similar, and it doesn’t help that none of the tracks ever clock in under four minutes. With the exceptions of an eclectic Bizarre, whose laid-back, easygoing delivery style contrasts with the excesses of his sick lyrics, and an inspired Proof, the others sound pretty similar, if competently so. Eminem is more notable for his hooks than his verses. Here Mathers stops for a moment in the middle of the track shortly after the checkered flag, grabs his friends and takes them with him on a long 70-minute victory lap, then leaves them and gives a big 5-minute middle finger to random opponents he left along the way, celebrating one of his many victories.
Rating: 4/10.
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