When traveling, Eminem has a bus to himself. “A lot of stuff we do, he doesn’t do, like smoke weed and stuff,” says Kuniva. “We just wild: TV up loud while somebody else got the stereo up. One guy will be talking on the phone, while other people will be in the back gambling. Eminem’s a solitary type. He likes being around the noise, but he also likes to have the option to be away from it.”
8) THE DIRTY DOZEN HAS A DRESS CODE.
“Kuniva and Kon Artis real matchy. Like, if they got the blue and white shirt, they gonna have some blue and yellow Air Force Ones and blue headbands,” says Bizarre. “They’re really into fashion. Proof, he thuggin.’ He’ll wear the same outfit 10 days. Em’s not wearing nothing unless it’s a running shoe. No flat shoes, like Air Force Ones. With me, I’m getting into fashion a little bit more now that I’m married. Wife be like, ‘Change your shirt.’ At weddings and cabarets and stuff, I’ll pull the gators out. That’s what Detroit is known for.”
9) WHEN EMNIEM’S NOT AROUND, THE REST OF THE CREW IS AVAILABLE FOR WEDDING AND BAR MITZVAHS.
“During the first album, some guy paid us 10 Gs to come do one number for his son’s bar mitzvah,” says Bizarre. “We were going to do ‘Purple Pills’.” Just before the crew took the stage, however, someone got wind of the song’s questionable content. “Uh…I think we just want you guys to sign autographs,” the father said.
10) EMINEM, HOWEVER, DOES NOT DO BAR MITZVAHS…OR WEDDINGS.
Everyone in D12 was a groomsman when both Kuniva and Bizarre got married – except Eminem, who did make brief appearances to “show his respect.” He had to leave both ceremonies early to avoid stealing the limelight. “He wanted to mingle, but he was taking the attention away from me and my wife,” says Bizarre. “I know that’s gotta be sad for him. His best friends get married and he can’t even stay and kick it.”
11) AFTER 9/11, D12 LEARNED THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.
“We were stuck in France for two weeks. And on our flight home there was a bomb threat, so we had to make an emergency landing in Goose Bay, Canada,” says Bizarre. “About 300-400 people were there and three phones. You only had five minutes to make a call. Everybody was in army barracks. But we refused to sleep in the bunks, so we all just slept in a big TV room. When we got ready to leave, people found out who we were and chased us to the plane. So when we finally landed in Queens, Proof kissed the ground in the middle of the street. And we went to the store, got like 20 bottles of liquor, got drunk, and rode home to Detroit listening to Jodeci songs.”
12) AND THROUGH IT ALL, THEY LEARNED THERE’S NOTHING LIKE FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
“We all come from the same place,” says Swift. “That makes it easy to get along.” “If we got two days off, we might not see each other. That’s what helps us keep our sanity,” says Bizare. “Everybody needs their own space. Proof like to go to the club. I like to go fishin’ on my day off. Kon Artis spends time makin’ beats. That’s the key to a successful group, having respect for each other. We all know at the end of the day, D12 is the nucleus.” Even Eminem knows that.
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