Slim Shady Was Born in D12

[Intro] Ask the world where Slim Shady came from, you get the myth Ask Denaun Porter, he was there, and he'll tell you this [Verse 1] Marshall Mathers, one bad year, one persona that changed it all That's the mythology, but Denaun remembers it different, y'all An hour twenty-two in, on The 3rd Verse They asked how D12 came about, how Em got from Infinite to the EP first Denaun collapsed both questions into one "The Slim Shady EP, to me, that's D12," same thing, it's done Proof said, "I wanna put together a group that's almost Wu-Tang" Supposed to be twelve, but they couldn't find twelve to bring So it shrunk down to six, two personalities each Eminem and Slim Shady, Mr. Porter and Kon Artis Proof and Dirty Harry, that's the whole cast within reach [Hook] Slim Shady was born in D12 One of twelve in a Detroit house, you could tell Proof built the game on an eight-track machine Say the most outrageous thing, stop trying to impress the scene [Verse 2] The concept was, say the most outrageous thing you can 'Cause saying all these other things wasn't working for the plan Let everything go, stop trying to impress Make music for yourself, that's the missing link, no less Infinite was Em saying the acceptable things well Detroit shrugged, then the alter-ego game broke the spell Permission to stop auditioning, records at the house Denaun on the beats, eight-track, everybody come around Drop their version, cheap, communal, that's the sound Slim Shady was Em's entry, one persona out of twelve Then he said, "Yo, I'm taking this Slim Shady thing even further" for himself Started the EP and "Just Don't Give a Fuck," that's the order it fell [Hook] Slim Shady was born in D12 One of twelve in a Detroit house, you could tell Proof built the game on an eight-track machine Say the most outrageous thing, stop trying to impress the scene [Verse 3] Back at his parents' house Denaun made the core of the EP "Bro, just give me the filth," so they called it the filth, you see "I just don't give a fuck, bro, this my last shot" That's what he said, his last swing, everything they got "Just Don't Give a Fuck" and "Low Down, Dirty" in a single day "We did all of them in one day," at their wits' end that way Then they made "Just Don't Give a Fuck," and all that stuff came And then Dre heard it, that's how the story goes, same December '97, the EP arrived Eighteen months later, the most notorious character in American music alive [Outro] Proof, who built the concept, gone twenty years The ones who can tell it firsthand, fewer every year He didn't die in 2024 with the coffin on the cover Didn't begin in '97 on a solo EP, brother He began as one-twelfth of a Proof idea Friends in a house making each other laugh on an eight-track, real The persona was a group project It always was