Rapper Proof of the rap group D12, one of the key figures on the Detroit hip-hop scene, was shot and killed this morning at an after-hours club on Eight Mile, police said.

Proof, whose real name is Deshaun Holton, was dead on arrival at Conner Creek Medical Center in Detroit, according to a spokeswoman for St. John Health System. He was 32.

Source: Detroit Free Press

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/NEWS99/60411006

Proof was among the most pivotal players in Detroit hip-hop, and revered as one of the battle rappers in the city -- the man who would handle anyone who dared to challenge him in a war of words. He befriended Eminem long before he was a houshold name, and was a nearly constant presence as the rapper rose to superstardom.

Proof was friends with many of the top Detroit hip-hop DJs, radio personalities, rappers and producers. A number of them were planning to gather with his family at the hospital this morning, including Eminem, Obie Trice and Marv Won from the Detroit group the Fat Killahz.

An unidentified 35-year-old man, who was shot along with Proof, is in critical condition at Detroit's St. John Hospital.

Police were called to the shootings around 5 a.m, following reports of a fight and shots fired. The club where the shooting occurred is called 3C, and it's at 8 Mile near Hayes. The venue isn't illegal but it was operating illegally after hours.

In the mid-'90s, Proof's Saturday afternoons were spent hosting rap battles at the famed Hip Hop Shop on Seven Mile Rd., a role that would be fictionalized by actor Mekhi Phifer in “8 Mile,” the Hollywood blockbuster film in which he Proof also played a bit part.

Proof was a steady hand for Detroit's then up-and-coming hip-hop scene. It was his idea to assemble a collection of Detroit's best hip-hop talent and call it D12; it was his hand that helped push Eminem to become one of the world's biggest pop stars, including serving as his on-stage hype man on concert tours.

After the release of "8 Mile," when battle rap was gaining newfound commerical exposure, Proof was hired to host a national search for the next best battle rapper by Showtime Networks.

In Detroit, he hosted Fight Club, a battle rap competition that would happen near his Iron Fist Records offices, which are located on Bagley in Detroit. There, Detroit hip-hop elite would gather and listen as up-and-comers on the hip-hop scene would verbally duke it out, looking to become as big as Proof, Eminem or other Detroit hip-hop comrades.

In January, he served as best man in Eminem's wedding, giving a poignant toast about how it's important to marry your best friend. D12 was scheduled to begin recording its third album this month.

This is the second shooting involving Eminem's entourage in three months. Obie Trice was shot and wounded New Year's Eve while driving along the Lodge Freeway.

Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to call Detroit Police at 313-596-2260.

'This my last letter right here
Fuck this world, lets get the fuck outta here

I put my soul through the ink
Bless a path with thoughts at my thoughts
Before I grow extinct
My back-bone disowned by zone
Why roam? called home
But now on I'm all alone
Just Proof, no shine, no friends, just fans
No wonder my hands, tight where the Internet ends
I take back most of the flack
The stress smokes, press me close to the crack
Like my pops, the ghost of my past Dime and mud, JD and stucky
Lately I'm lucky, I don't hate me to touch me
Maybe I'm ugly inside, but smiling to make it I love you dawg, and that's how ever you take it
The fame is a illusion, I'm still loosing In this game, with the rules and..
I feel clueless, the streets with the hills blue less
Cops knocking at the door, got me looking real foolish
But I still do this, like I love it, even though I thug it
Keep flossing lights in public, the subject y'all don't know
Stars won't grow, who would dream that scars would show?
Minus the MTV videos with slim "Up In Smoke" D-12, and many shows with Em It's still me dawg, no change for change
It's strange, when it pours it rains I take it back..

I wish I could take it back,
I wish I could take it back
But it's too late I wish I could take it back,
I wish I could take it back
But it's too late

Always talking to snuk coke and he speak back
Wish my first son was here to reach at Feeling detached
My brother Earl, and Wayne, that bail money for jail, y'all can keep that I've been in deep before, ask
My hearts melting, tell the truth,
I need help man I hearts big but by sins bigger
Fuck the world, I don't feel like I can win niggaz
It's like I'm lost and I find only demons I wanna quit, its like I'm tired of breathing
So my stress confess to a famous song
Em I love you, don't let this money change us dawg 1st born, when I'm gone, grab the sign
(Leave nothing) with his cream and his mom
And dear mamma, I use to hate you
Now I relate to, everything you did to make proof I love you.. Take it back

I wish I could take it back,
I wish I could take it back
But it's too late I wish I could take it back,
I wish I could take it back
But it's too late

All y'all see is Free from 106 and park
Yall don't know I risk my heart with this apart
From the streets, the groups, the friends, the foes
The jewels, the dick lickers and the hoes
What about me? Sheltered with no guidance
Look at the finest, royal highness on some hot shit
Still living with the liquor and bud
Sometimes I wish for my demise, so I can kick it with Bugs
I wish it was real between us all
In the past, you should of seen us dawg
I die for Em and save Haley, brave maybe
But just let them tears remove my grave Shady Kunive and Swift, how live is it get?
I meant to teach y'all niggaz to survive in this bitch
If we die to be rich, that makes me happy
And on another note, shit, don't hate me pappy
It's just that we look the same, you let the game take you
Your son game along and took the game
Since I took my own life, y'all feel a killa fo sho
Bizarre on the real, your the realest nigga I know
Strapping and busting ain't real, just tell your mans the truth
And that's why you've always been friends with Proof
Answer to all, I've always lied with truth
And before I pull the trigger tonight, I'm proud of you..'

- Proof 'Kurt Kobain' off 'Searching for Jerry Garcia'

R.I.P.