His best friend and fellow D12 MC Eminem rocketed to worldwide fame, but for many people on the Detroit rap scene, Proof was the people's king and an equally vital figure in helping to establish the city as an international hip-hop hot spot.
Proof (born DeShaun Holton), 32, was killed by a gunshot to the head early Tuesday morning (April 11) outside Detroit's CCC Club in a shooting that left another man in critical condition. Friends remembered him as an unparalleled battle rapper, a creative force and hometown booster who never stopped searching for the next big thing — in high schools, clubs, conference rooms or anywhere else he could stage a lyrical throwdown.
"He looked out for everybody," said his longtime friend and former manager Mark "Doughboy" Hicks. "He's one of the prototypes for the music biz in Detroit. Proof was everywhere; that was part of his thing. He was in clubs, he was a street guy, a people's person. He reminded me of Peter Tosh or Tupac, how he had his house open and welcome to everybody. He had the biggest heart [of anyone] I've ever known in my life."
According to local lore, it was Proof who came up with the D12 moniker after the group's original name, the Dirty Dozen, was rejected because it had already been taken by another act. Along with his friend Bizarre and high school buddy Eminem, he helped launch the group — which also features Kon Artis, Swift and Kuniva — and took part in an early pact between the members that said whoever became successful first would help the others along.
Before making his mark as Eminem's onstage foil, though, Proof established an early reputation as one of the hardest-working hustlers on the local music scene, according to Hicks. "He had it in his blood, because his father used to be in Marvin Gaye's band," Hicks said; Proof's father is McKinley Jackson, a producer/arranger/bandleader who also worked extensively with other Detroit R&B acts. "[Proof worked] at a studio called Mo Master on the West Side," Hicks continued. "They made him an assistant engineer in 1991, and that's when he started making contacts. Everyone would go there and everyone got to know him."
One of the most versatile, witty freestylers on the competitive Detroit scene, he won the 1999 Source magazine Unsigned Hype freestyle competition and narrowly lost the Blaze battle that year, after hosting the Saturday afternoon MC battles at Maurice Malone's legendary Hip-Hop Shop for five years. Proof is credited with encouraging Slim Shady to take the stage for battles, a move that helped Em get a record deal with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records.
"He would do battles everywhere, places I can't even think of," Hicks said. "He didn't graduate from high school, but he would [perform at] high schools. To be the host [at the Hip-Hop Shop] you had to beat the host, and Proof was the host until the end." The Hip-Hop shop closed in 1997 but has reopened under new management.
Last year he released his solo debut, Searching for Jerry Garcia, on his own Iron Fist Records. The wide-ranging album featured cameos from 50 Cent, Method Man, Nate Dogg, MC Breed, Eminem and the D12 posse. The record's booklet was littered with images and references to dead rock stars — including the track "Kurt Cobain" — and the cover features a dour image of Proof holding a skeleton in a headlock. According to the Detroit Free Press, D12 were set to start working on their third album this month.
Proof was best known as Eminem's longtime friend and onstage right-hand man, a position he won after original hype man and fellow Detroit rapper Royce Da 5'9" gave up the position to pursue a solo deal. However, Hicks said Proof was much more than a hype man, helping to design the sets and draw up set lists for Eminem's show and counseling his friend on how to pace his performances.
Proof was also the only D12 member to appear in Em's acclaimed 2002 semi-autobiographical film "8 Mile" (he played Lil' Tic) and was the inspiration for Mekhi Phifer's role as Future in the movie. He also served as Eminem's best man when the rapper remarried Kim Mathers in January. Eminem filed for divorce last week.
In a tragic coincidence, in the video for Eminem's "Like Toy Soldiers" — a song about walking away from beef he and fellow Shady Records rappers have had with other MCs — Proof is shot and shown lying on a gurney, bleeding to death, as Eminem waits outside an operating room.
Also known as Big Proof and Derty Harry, the father of five appeared on D12's 2001 debut, Devil's Night, and its hit single, "Purple Pills," and also collaborated with fellow Detroit rapper Dogmatic on the 2002 Promatic album; he also toured with Eminem on the Anger Management Tour that year. Prior to the release of the second D12 album, 2004's D12 World, Proof released a number of mixtapes, including I Miss the Hip-Hop Shop and Grown Man Sh--. He recently launched a DVD series with fellow D12 rapper Bizarre called "Wanna Battle," in which the pair judged rap battles. The first in the series was recorded in Detroit last fall.
In February, Proof lost one of his close friends in fellow Detroit artist Jay Dee of Slum Village, with whom he'd gotten his first tattoo, an "FC" for Funky Cowboy, their pre-D12/Slum Village group. "No one's done more for this city's artists than Proof and Jay Dee," said RJ Rice, a Detroit producer, manager and record label owner. "They were the only people I know who would do stuff genuinely from the heart and not for money."
While the pressures of worldwide fame have largely prevented Eminem from remaining connected to his hometown, Proof was able to keep a strong tie to the scene that nurtured him, befriending many of the city's top hip-hop DJs, radio personalities and up-and-coming MCs and producers, according to Hicks.
He also continued to host Fight Club, a battle-rap competition that took place near — and sometimes in — the Iron Fist offices in downtown Detroit.
"He always had his studio open to people," said Hicks, who had known Proof for nearly 20 years and said it was not at all unusual for the rapper to be out at a club in the early-morning hours. "If you were an MC and were good, he had an open heart, man. You'd go to [Iron Fist] and there would be 20-30 people in there.
"He liked to be out with people. He looked out for everybody. He was Em's best friend, but he was everyone's best friend."
Proof (born DeShaun Holton), 32, was killed by a gunshot to the head early Tuesday morning (April 11) outside Detroit's CCC Club in a shooting that left another man in critical condition. Friends remembered him as an unparalleled battle rapper, a creative force and hometown booster who never stopped searching for the next big thing — in high schools, clubs, conference rooms or anywhere else he could stage a lyrical throwdown.
"He looked out for everybody," said his longtime friend and former manager Mark "Doughboy" Hicks. "He's one of the prototypes for the music biz in Detroit. Proof was everywhere; that was part of his thing. He was in clubs, he was a street guy, a people's person. He reminded me of Peter Tosh or Tupac, how he had his house open and welcome to everybody. He had the biggest heart [of anyone] I've ever known in my life."
According to local lore, it was Proof who came up with the D12 moniker after the group's original name, the Dirty Dozen, was rejected because it had already been taken by another act. Along with his friend Bizarre and high school buddy Eminem, he helped launch the group — which also features Kon Artis, Swift and Kuniva — and took part in an early pact between the members that said whoever became successful first would help the others along.
Before making his mark as Eminem's onstage foil, though, Proof established an early reputation as one of the hardest-working hustlers on the local music scene, according to Hicks. "He had it in his blood, because his father used to be in Marvin Gaye's band," Hicks said; Proof's father is McKinley Jackson, a producer/arranger/bandleader who also worked extensively with other Detroit R&B acts. "[Proof worked] at a studio called Mo Master on the West Side," Hicks continued. "They made him an assistant engineer in 1991, and that's when he started making contacts. Everyone would go there and everyone got to know him."
One of the most versatile, witty freestylers on the competitive Detroit scene, he won the 1999 Source magazine Unsigned Hype freestyle competition and narrowly lost the Blaze battle that year, after hosting the Saturday afternoon MC battles at Maurice Malone's legendary Hip-Hop Shop for five years. Proof is credited with encouraging Slim Shady to take the stage for battles, a move that helped Em get a record deal with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records.
"He would do battles everywhere, places I can't even think of," Hicks said. "He didn't graduate from high school, but he would [perform at] high schools. To be the host [at the Hip-Hop Shop] you had to beat the host, and Proof was the host until the end." The Hip-Hop shop closed in 1997 but has reopened under new management.
Last year he released his solo debut, Searching for Jerry Garcia, on his own Iron Fist Records. The wide-ranging album featured cameos from 50 Cent, Method Man, Nate Dogg, MC Breed, Eminem and the D12 posse. The record's booklet was littered with images and references to dead rock stars — including the track "Kurt Cobain" — and the cover features a dour image of Proof holding a skeleton in a headlock. According to the Detroit Free Press, D12 were set to start working on their third album this month.
Proof was best known as Eminem's longtime friend and onstage right-hand man, a position he won after original hype man and fellow Detroit rapper Royce Da 5'9" gave up the position to pursue a solo deal. However, Hicks said Proof was much more than a hype man, helping to design the sets and draw up set lists for Eminem's show and counseling his friend on how to pace his performances.
Proof was also the only D12 member to appear in Em's acclaimed 2002 semi-autobiographical film "8 Mile" (he played Lil' Tic) and was the inspiration for Mekhi Phifer's role as Future in the movie. He also served as Eminem's best man when the rapper remarried Kim Mathers in January. Eminem filed for divorce last week.
In a tragic coincidence, in the video for Eminem's "Like Toy Soldiers" — a song about walking away from beef he and fellow Shady Records rappers have had with other MCs — Proof is shot and shown lying on a gurney, bleeding to death, as Eminem waits outside an operating room.
Also known as Big Proof and Derty Harry, the father of five appeared on D12's 2001 debut, Devil's Night, and its hit single, "Purple Pills," and also collaborated with fellow Detroit rapper Dogmatic on the 2002 Promatic album; he also toured with Eminem on the Anger Management Tour that year. Prior to the release of the second D12 album, 2004's D12 World, Proof released a number of mixtapes, including I Miss the Hip-Hop Shop and Grown Man Sh--. He recently launched a DVD series with fellow D12 rapper Bizarre called "Wanna Battle," in which the pair judged rap battles. The first in the series was recorded in Detroit last fall.
In February, Proof lost one of his close friends in fellow Detroit artist Jay Dee of Slum Village, with whom he'd gotten his first tattoo, an "FC" for Funky Cowboy, their pre-D12/Slum Village group. "No one's done more for this city's artists than Proof and Jay Dee," said RJ Rice, a Detroit producer, manager and record label owner. "They were the only people I know who would do stuff genuinely from the heart and not for money."
While the pressures of worldwide fame have largely prevented Eminem from remaining connected to his hometown, Proof was able to keep a strong tie to the scene that nurtured him, befriending many of the city's top hip-hop DJs, radio personalities and up-and-coming MCs and producers, according to Hicks.
He also continued to host Fight Club, a battle-rap competition that took place near — and sometimes in — the Iron Fist offices in downtown Detroit.
"He always had his studio open to people," said Hicks, who had known Proof for nearly 20 years and said it was not at all unusual for the rapper to be out at a club in the early-morning hours. "If you were an MC and were good, he had an open heart, man. You'd go to [Iron Fist] and there would be 20-30 people in there.
"He liked to be out with people. He looked out for everybody. He was Em's best friend, but he was everyone's best friend."
