r.i.p.
by Wendy Day
Proof That He Was Alive
T
he headline on AOL’s main screen read “Eminem’s Close Friend Killed.” As I clicked on it I said to myself please don’t let it be Proof. Proof was so much more than a close friend of Eminem’s that was killed. Proof was one of the first artists in this industry that I befriended. I met him through some friends who worked at Tommy Boy. It was around 1994. They wanted to sign him because of his charisma, but they were afraid to take a chance on a rapper from Detroit, in my opinion. I liked Proof very much as a person. I can’t say that about many rappers. Proof was energetic, outgoing, and spoke his mind. He reminded me of a little Muppet character. Always happy, always entertaining, always moving—especially when everyone else around him was tired. He was always so alive and energetic. With the success of Eminem, I lost touch with Proof. Tommy Boy never did sign him, but he had a better gig as Em’s right hand man. He was down for Em—stayed true, even when there were rumblings in D-12 about this or about that. Proof was always by Marshall’s side, through the good and through the bad. I imagine Marshall’s feeling it the most because it’s impossible to replace loyalty and years in. Especially when you are a household name. He was Marshall’s best friend. Proof and I spoke by Blackberry, a few lines here and a few lines there. We spoke often when he put out his CD independently. It didn’t do as well as he had hoped, or maybe it didn’t do as well as I had hoped for him. I saw Proof in July in Atlanta. I was backstage at the Anger Management Tour meeting with his cousin Trick-Trick. Everyone was sitting on the tour bus, tired as hell. Proof was the energetic Muppet running around entertaining all of us, clowning for the Shade 45 interviewers. He was having a good time, but I think that everywhere he went he had a good time. I wondered if he would have any energy left for the stage. He did. When Proof first saw me he gave me shit for not returning a call to him months earlier. He had an old phone number for me so I never got his message, but that didn’t stop him. After he was done scolding me, he hugged me for what seemed like hours. We had a good time, but everywhere he went he had a good time. Except maybe last night. He was gunned down in an afterhours club on Eight Mile in Detroit. Yes, that 8 Mile - the one his best friend made world famous in a film by the same name. More senseless violence. More Detroit shit. Apparently they caught the dude who shot him. That’s a first. I remember a story Trick-Trick told me in September while we were in NY shopping his deal. He dropped Proof off at home early one morning after they had been recording at the studio all night. Proof got out of the car and without Trick knowing, he ran across the yard, jumped a fence, through another neighbor’s yard and ran along side of Trick’s car and banged on the window shocking the hell out of him. When Trick pulled over and asked him “What the hell are you doing man?!,” Proof just laughed and ran off through some bushes and across another yard. All Trick could do was pull off laughing thinking about how crazy Proof was. We lose too many rappers to violence. We lose too many young Black males to violence. Now we’ve lost a Muppet to senseless violence. Wherever he is, he’s in a better place. I want to say “rest in peace, dear friend,” but I know that’s not possible. I know he’s running around with incredible energy, entertaining everyone. That’s just Proof. - Wendy Day of Rap Coalition (mathematics@rapcoalition.org) You can read more of Wendy Day’s ranting and raving on her blog at www.WendyDay.com. You can also respond to her insane ramblings.
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OZONE
Proof’s casket at his funeral (above) and obituary (below)