The Story behind Eminem & Proof’s 1999 freestyle. Watch Now
It’s been 14 years (11 April 2006) since DeShaun Dupree Holton aka Proof was passed away after being shot three times. The proof was the childhood friend of legendary Eminem and also a member of the rap group D12. There’s an Eminem and Proof’s freestyle, where they spitting bars off the top in a car. There’s a story behind the story for the freestyle which was happened in 1999 for Kurt Loder and MTV. The story is that Eminem said goodbye to Proof through the window & was about to drive off. MTV asked them to spit some bars, Em loaded upbeats on the car stereo, and the duo freestyled off the top.
The year 1999 marked a watershed moment in Eminem’s career. Three years after Infinite, the Detroit MC teamed up with Dr. Dre and Aftermath Entertainment to release The Slim Shady LP in February, and things have only gotten better since then. Em’ would travel internationally that year, stopping by Tim Westwood’s London, England radio show.
Despite the fact that Proof did not appear on Em’s major-label debut, he was purportedly signed by Marshall Mathers as the first act on Shady Records the same year. While D12 would be Shady’s first vehicle, the camaraderie between the two battle-tested MCs was extremely deep. Em took advantage of every opportunity on the tour to help brand the artist, as was standard at the time. He’d known since he was a child. For both MCs, Westwood would be a crucial stop.
In 1999, during the time Mathers was promoting The Slim Shady LP, the freestyle appeared on the New York Live show with Westwood and Marley Marl. “Forget the controversy surrounding me / And all these fake a*s press people surrounding me, hounding me. / But I don’t give a damn ’cause I smoke a pound of weed / Y’all don’t want none of me.” Slim Shady says on the track.
“Yo, Proof used to come walkin’ up right up the street
And be like, “Yo, what up, Em? How you doin’?”
I used be like, “Yeah, man
It’s good to see you, dawg, but my life’s ruined
‘Cause my mom just left,” she left my brother Nate
And I hate the fact that we never had no food on our plate
So then Proof said: “What up, Em?”
Yo, so I said “Proof, won’t you come in?” raps Eminem.
Proof was up next, and he stepped in as the beat changed to Em’s Dr. Dre-assisted 1999 smash, “Guilty Conscience.” “Too many White and Black people I been gnarly/Rocking with Tim Westwood and Mr. Marley,” Proof says. “It’s time for us to do y’all—who y’all?/We break balls like cue balls while y’all switch up like Ru Paul/It’s true y’all don’t want to mess around with us/A lot of people out there is dangerous!”
Check out the freestyle below.
Eminem & Proof freestyling for Kurt Loder & MTV in 1999
Em said goodbye to Proof through the window & was about to drive off. MTV asked them to spit some bars, Em loaded up beats on the car stereo, and we get this
Back when freestyle meant off the toppic.twitter.com/NefTV7ZtqI
— Hip Hop By The Numbers (@HipHopNumbers) April 11, 2020
