Every time I heard of D12 I shied away from listening to them because they just seemed like a group riding Eminem’s coattails. The random songs I heard on the radio or in people’s cars backed this up. So I wrote them off.
Fast forward to a 33jones entry (which I cannot find now) which mentioned a tribute mix tape (d/l) to Big Proof. Fast forward even later to today when I finally listened to it. Damn it if my mind is not completely changed on at least Proof.
The mix tape strikes me as a more party oriented Killah Priest. Proof talks about some pretty serious shit in his rhymes and shares a love of theology with Priest. It also is much more eclectic than I expected. He did a lot of the beats on it and they are nothing like what I would have expected coming from the D12 I heard on the radio. One of Proof’s albums was named after and dedicated to Jerry Garcia whom he considers one of the main impacts on his music. Again not something I would traditionally have listened to as I rank listening to the Grateful Dead right up there with banging my head on the ground.
The mix tape also reminds me of home and college in that all the touch points on it are in Detroit and places that I remember. Too bad that I did not listen to Proof while he was alive and when I had a chance to actually catch him live.
I will keep it on repeat for a while to make sure it really is a good as I think but you should check it out if you like good hip hop or have a soft spot for the D.
