D12

D12, otherwise known as The Dirty Dozen is a hip hop collective from Detroit, Michigan thatbecame well known when one of its members Eminem was launched to stardom with the release of “The Slim Shady LP” in 1999. Eminem chose to bring along D12 once his solo career took off and signed on D12 as the first group on the Shady Records label.

One sad day D12 group member Bugz became involved in an altercation at a picnic and was killed after being shot three times. Eminem filled in forBugs temporarily to help D12 put on some shows, which resulted in Eminem eventually becoming a member of the group again. D12 recorded the song “The Good Die Young” on their album “D12 World” to memorialize Bugs, Eminem also memorialized Bugs on his second album,”The Marshall Mathers LP”.

The success of the group was sealed in 2001 when “Devil’s Night” topped the Billboard charts at number one. And, any question of their continued marketability was put to rest when their second album “D12 World” also hit the Billboard number one slot in 2004. Even so, D12 continued to be overshadowed by Eminem’s success and fame as he continued to have a hand in producing these albums. The tour for the second album “D12 World” was executed entirely without Eminem, in part, so D12 could demonstrate success apart from Eminem, but Eminem was also busy recording his own project “Encore”.

Due to the death of Proof the newest album has had many false starts. We will have to watch for news from the 2009 tour to see if the new album will be released soon. d12 is managed by Jeremy Geffen.Jeremy Geffen represents D12.|Jeremy Geffen Entertainment handles management duties for D12.