R.I.P. Proof

DeShaun Dupree Holton, better known as energetic and influential rap figure out of Detroit, Michigan Proof, was one of the most influential and igniting members in the Detroit hip hop scene. Growing up, Proof was best known for having such a close, tight knit relationship with famous rap figure Eminem. The two rappers would later go on to form a group called D12, but go back even further than that to high school days where they would end up being best friends. The main reason that proof would go on to be one of the most prominent, and influential rap figures within Detroit, is because he was widely known for being the lively, and dedicated host at rap battles that took place at the Hip-hop Shop where Proof would go on to host battles for the next few years of his life. After this Proof had moved on to other battle scenes in his life including an event called Fight Club which was similar to the events that would take place at the Hip Hop shop. In 1998, Proof came extremely close to winning the Blaze Battle contest but in the end would not prove successful in that feat. Such prominence and notoriety within the rap scene would grant Proof the reputable Source’s 1999 Unsigned Hype award. Although Proof was part of Detroit hip hop group D12 which would go on to release two full-length albums, he went on to produce a solo album in 2005 called “Searching for Jerry Garcia” and a collaborated album with “Dogmatic Promatic” in 2002. On April 11th, 2006, Proof would fall victim to a vicious hail of gunfire afterhours at the CCC club on Eight Mile road in Detroit. Although Proof is now resting in peace, his career and his influential following from being the spark of ignition within the Detroit hip hop scene, would earn him the label as one of the most prominent rap figures within Detroit. Below I have posted a video that shows Proof and lifelong best friend Eminem freestyling back in their hometown Detroit. Enjoy.

Slum Village...Past, Present and Future

         Slum Village is a group out of Conant Gardens, Detroit, Michigan. When the group emerged in the late 1990’s, the group tri which consisted of Dilla, T3, and Baatin, made an announcement that their group was an association of people that would be coming and going throughout the groups evolution. The group stayed true to their word and rapper/producer Dilla had left the group after releasing their first national album in 2000, Fantastic Vol. 2. After Dilla had left the group, rapper Elzhi was then added to the mix for the group’s 2002 album Trinity: Past, Present and Future. After this album was released, the group than consisted of just T3 and Elzhi. Although the group has undergone many changes since its creation, they have always had the same consistency when stating their goal and mission as a group which was to “Deliver Soul-Stirring Sonics that represent Detroit to the fullest” (Sing365.com).

            On the tracks “Do You” produced by Dilla and the track “Selfish” that featured Kanye West, Slum Village steadily represented that Midwest-funk heritage that they have always been about. Although Slum Village has always been about this form of lighthearted music, they show on Detroit Deli that they are also able to hit the audiences with more serious subject matter. On the track “Keep Holding on”, the group talks about not losing faith in their lives, and staying true to what they do as a group. After Dilla had left the group after Fantastic Vol. 2, it was looked at by many as losing the backbone to the group. Slum Village disproved this theory to the utmost by producing and releasing “Trinity” which would prove that the group can actually make hits, and speak to an audience with the same passion even though they were missing their sonic architect, Dilla. In conclusion, Slum Village has always been about the same core concepts in their music and quote from T3 will exemplify this perfectly. "We've always stuck to our guns," T3 says. "We've never tried to change to get commercial success. We always just did what we did and when you do what you do, eventually somebody's going to have to give you your respect for having the courage to do what you do."

The Court of Hip Hop finds Mr. Simpson...Guilty

          Byron Simpson aka Guilty Simpson is an MC that was born in the city of Detroit. He was born in a family where he was the son and grandson of the performing musician’s family members, his father and grandfather. While growing up, Guilty Simpson has lived with an aunt that was in the military. Due to this nomadic lifestyle that comes with military careers, Guilty Simpson and his aunt moved to many different places including California, and Birmingham, Alabama before he finally settled back to the motor city at the age of 15. Although there were many influences in Guilty Simpsons life that included Big Daddy Kane, N.W.A., and Scarface, his most influential, and inspiring artist was Kool G Rap. Below is a quote from Guilty Simpson that summarizes his profound respect, and admiration for Kool G Rap, “That’s my crème de la crème rapper right there,” says Simpson, his own presence among the latest in a rich lineage of heavy-handed MCs. Guilty Simpson has been surrounded by some of the most influential Detroit artists throughout his lifetime including Dilla, Eminem, Slum Village, Black Milk, Phat Kat, Proof, and hip hop group D12. Although Guilty Simpson was a member of the Almighty Dreadnaughtz crew, it was not until 2001 when he linked up with Dilla that he would be seen as a force to be reckoned with. Guilty Simpson would go on to be featured on Dilla’s album The Ruff Draft on the track “Take Notice”. Shortly thereafter, Dilla would introduce Guilty Simpson on his 2003 album Jaylib on the track “Strapped”. 
          In 2006, Guilty Simpson was officially a part of Stones Throw Records that would go on to help him produce and release his most widely known solo debut, “Ode to the Ghetto”. What this album exemplified, and explained to its audience was the lifestyle that Guilty Simpson led in the rough, poverty ridden city of Detroit. The album would feature artist such as Dilla, Madlib, and D12.Guilty Simpson made it clear that album was not emulate horrendous and heinous acts that take place in the ghetto. He merely wanted people to realize that the current state of hip hop is in shambles seeing as how it focuses solely on upholding and image and weak rhymes. Guilty Simpson wanted people to realize that what happens in the ghetto is real whether you want to believe it or not.

Quelle Chris

          Quelle Chris is a Detroit MC who was first introduced in the infamous Detroit hip hop group Wasted Youth which was also an extension of the group Elzhi and Ta’Raach were in at the time called the Breakfast Club. After experimenting in different aspects of music including the electronic and indie rock scene, he returned to Detroit with a hip hop heavyweight by the name of House Shoes and shortly thereafter released Blue Mondays. He swiftly changed focus again and released two albums with his electronic group Awesome in Outer Space, and an album with his new group Crown Nation called “Slutbag Edition”. Elzhi (Detroit MC) referred to this album as “One of his favorite albums of 2009” and was also referred to as being one of Detroit’s classic albums. This album led to numerous collaborations stemming from Guilty Simpson, and Danny Brown. After leading the production on Danny Brown’s album “The Hybrid”, he decided to go back to his traditional ways of being an MC.
          His most widely acclaimed and my favorite album “Shotgun and Sleek Rifle” was a project that exemplified both the skills and motivation of a Detroit MC, and the roots of his past that Quelle Chris as an artist has always held close to his heart. The album has features on it including Danny Brown, Roc Marciano, and the group that helped him start it all, Wasted Youth. The album represents a mix of rock and his deep founded love for hip hop. It also pulls from his roots in soul and grunge music which makes for the album to be a smooth, yet hard hitting album. The album is one of my favorites because I feel as if it is the artist’s true show of skill, and the homage that he pays his hometown the city of Detroit. The song Nubeginning4 featuring Machine represents the changes that Quelle as an artist has been through and where he is at now in his career. He also produces most of his music so this track not only featured him as an MC, but as a producer of the track as well. Overall, Quelle Chris is on his way to becoming one of the faces that you see when Detroit hip hop is mentioned in conversation or anywhere for that matter.

Eminem: Struggle and Victory

This next post is dedicated to one of the, if not the most influential persons in the Detroit music scene, Eminem. Eminem has been around for years and just his name brings up feelings of controversy, and amazing talent. Eminem was born in 1972 under the name Marshall Mathers in St. Joseph, Missouri. The main reason that Eminem was raised in Michigan, Detroit was because his mother Deborah Mathers was not able to hold a job down for more than a few months at a time and they were forced to move frequently. Eminem had lashed out at his mother for letting him succumb to the lifestyle of having no friends, being bullied in school, and having to change schools up to 3 times year. As time went on, Eminem became solidified at Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan. Eminem at this point in his life failed the ninth grade three different times and decided to drop out officially shortly after the third time. Eminem started to get highly interested in rap music with 1980’s groups such as N.W.A., and other controversial groups coming out at that time. It was his love for language and vocabulary that made him realize that he had a special talent that needed to be exposed. It was not easy for Eminem because around this time, the rap industry was predominantly black and Eminem having pale skin and blue eyes made him stick out like a sore thumb. It did not take long for people to realize that Eminem had spectacular skills in rapping and he soon became one of the most respectable figures in the Detroit underground rap scene. After the birth of Eminem’s daughter Hailie Jade Scott in 1995, he released his first indie album Infinite in 1996. This album would not prove to be groundbreaking in the young rappers career and unfortunately attracted minor local attention. Eminem’s life took a 360 turn shortly thereafter when Dr. Dre the legendary rapper from N.W.A. traveled to Detroit to see Eminem perform at a rap battle and was so impressed that he signed Eminem to Interscope Records Label on the spot. Eminem went on to drop impressive, successful albums for years to come that included the Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers Lp, and the Eminem Show, which would prove to be the artist’s greatest contributions to the rap industry.

Hex Murda Interview

Hex Murda is widely known as being one of the most vital industry figures in the Detroit hip hop scene. In this interview that was conducted between him and HipHopDX which is a website that interviews artists regularly. Hex Murda has done many influential things in his career from managing artists such as Guilty Simpson, and Carlisle Von. What is interesting about this artist is that I was not aware of it until reading this interview, is that he also helps co-manage artists such as Danny Brown, and Black Milk, which are artists from Detroit. Hex Murda also survived a Pontine stroke in 2009 which only carries a 7% survival rate. However, he has been making music and still is heavily involved in the music industry. What I found most interesting about this interview with HipHopDX, was the question brought up about rapper Elzhi’s Elmatic LP which was a flip of Nas’ Illmatic album which dropped in 1994. I was surprise by Hex Murda’s response. He responded by saying “There are very few emcees skilled enough to pull this off, Elzhi just happens to be one. I myself say leave the classics alone. I heard Ready To Die when BIG did it, I don't need to hear Yung Lil Generic Jones give it a whirl”. Hex Murda basically said without using so many words, that there are artists out there who are able to flip things and rhyme, keeping that respect and gratitude for old school MC’s paving the way. Hex Murda is one of those artists’s who does not respect the new wave of rap that is evident in this day and age, as opposed to original rap. Below I have posted the link to the website for those of you that are interested in reading the whole interview. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.17730/title.hex-murda-talks-state-of-detroit-hip-hop-nas-eminem-pharoahe-monch

Bizzare Announces Split with D12

D12 is a Detroit hip hop group composed of members Kon Artist, Kuniva, Swift, Eminem, Bizzare, and the now deceased Proof. The group has release 2 studio albums Devil's Night and D12 World and 8 releases in their career. In recent days, the group is slowly parting ways and splitting up to achieve different goals in their rap career. Group member Bizzare is among one of the members that is deciding to part ways with the group due to personal choices. Bizzare recently disclosed to HipHopDX, that he is deciding to part ways to start his own hip hop collective called "The Weirdo Movement". Bizzare quotes: "It's a personal decision on my part. I think that I've just grown as an artist and it is time for me to branch off on my brand". Fury,  Detroit MC FaygosandConeys, and Seattle MC Sonny Bonoho are the first artists to have already joined the movement. There were many rumors going around that Bizzare was going to join the recent upcoming alternative hip hop group Odd Future, but he stated in recent interviews that these are simply rumors and not true. Bizzares new album "This Guy's a Weirdo" is expected to drop on March 30th, 2012. 

Sources:
http://www.mlive.com/music/index.ssf/2012/03/rapper_bizarre_announces_split.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D12_discography