Members of the American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan - D12, discussed the beginnings of the American rapper, record producer, and actor - Eminem, saying that individuals thought that Marshall Bruce "Eminem" Mathers III was black when they first heard him rap.
The hip hop group D12 was formed in 1996 in the hometown of Eminem (who is the other half of the hip-hop duo Bad Meets Evil), and apparently became famous following the subsequent success of Eminem.
Hip-hop artist Kuniva, who is a member of D12, said in an interview, "A lot of individuals were thinking that Eminem was black before people even knew who Eminem was. People have automatically been like, 'This n***a's killing s#*t.'"
Kuniva also said, "And so, when people discovered that Eminem is a white dude, it was extra crazy like, 'Man, what the f@*k?' People couldn't really believe it. So a lot of these individuals had to come up there and see for themselves like, 'Let me witness what the f*%k this s%*t is about, man. Let's make sure.' People would come up there and they'd watch Eminem at the Hip Hop Shop just killing cats, man. You knew you were seeing something special. You knew it was something that you wouldn't see again."
Swifty McVay, also a member of D12, added, "You had to tell somebody. It was like that. You had to go and be like, 'Hey, you need to listen to this man.' You didn't keep your mouth closed when it came to admitting Eminem's skills to people."
In addition, the D12 members also talked about how early Eminem (who was ranked by Rolling Stone 83rd on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time) sounded like rappers AZ (member of hip-hop group The Firm) and the American rapper, songwriter and record producer - Nas, and Eminem wasn't pleased about it.
