You may have heard of a certain white rapper making waves in the hip-hop/pop/music industry, named Eminem. Hailing from Detroit, this white rapper has indeed broken through to the mainstream hip-hop and pop (even though I don’t think he’ll ever win it), created controversy by the bucket load, garned critical acclaim – and has ‘made it’. Eminem and the other members of D12 hail from way back when Eminem was still struggling in the Detroit underground, and him and his group/crew D12 made a pact that if any one of them got famous, they’d come back and get the others (that’s the legend). And Devil's Night is the result of that pact…

D12 is

Eminem aka Slim shady
Proof aka Derty Hairy
Bizarre aka Peter S. Bizarre
Swifty aka Swifty McVeigh
Kuniva aka Rondell Beene
Denaun Porter aka Kon Artis (most common name)

Yes, each member has an alter-ego, and this is where the ‘12’ in the title comes from. Complicated it ain’t!

Devil’s Night is the result of these six emcees work, along with Dr. Dre, who drops 3 or 4 beats for the boys to rhyme over. Alongside Dre, production is mostly handled by Denaun porter (who I’ll refer to as Kon Artis from now on) and Eminem.

Track Listing

1. Another Public Service Announcement
2. Sh*t Can Happen. (*****)
3. Pistols, Pistols. (*****)
4. Bizarre (skit)
5. Nasty Mind. (****)
6. Ain’t Nuttin But Music. (****)
7. American psycho. (*****)
8. That’s How (Intro)
9. That’s How. (*****)
10. Purple Pills. (**)
11. Fight Music. (*****)
12. Instigator. (****)
13. Pimp like Me. (**)
14. Blow My Buzz. (***)
15. Obie Trice (skit)
16. Devil’s Night. (*****)
17. Steve Berman (skit)
18. Revelation. (*****)
19. Girls, Girls (bonus, hidden track). (***)

We start with one of my favourites, Sh*t Can Happen. The song immediately kicks off with the rather anthemic chant,
Sh*t Can Happen, Sh*t Can Happen
and this repeats throughout the song. Charming I know. Anyway, lyrically, the song is simply about people who mess/hate on D12, and what’ll happen to ‘em. Eminem, of course, comes trumps with his verse, and Kuniva and Kon Artis hit us with some nice beginning tag teaming. It’s quite humorous, and rather profane, and expect this tone to repeat throughout the album. The beat is somewhat reminiscent of Dre, but it’s actually Kon Artis. Simple, thumping bass throughout, aided by the usual contemporary hip-hop assistance – keyboards and horns. A D12 anthem this one, and a damm good one at that too.

American Psycho is D12 at their downright darkest. Eminemdips his feet into production, and makes a damm good job of things, and lyrically he shines. Eminem has incredible writing scope, and can really integrate both darkness and humour into his complicated verses… check this…
I'm the devil - if ever there was such a thing
The results of much too many drugs what you're seeing
I'm a mindfu*k, completely dis-{*gus*}-ting
I'm {*white*}, a human mutt, fu* a being
I'm a dog – fu* lambs, I'm silencin 'em all
I'm involved in murders forensic science couldn't solve
Giant set of balls too big to buy a set of drawers
Might as well unzip my fly and let 'em fall to the floor.
The beat is very dark, with sparse and chilling piano keys simply piercing the eerie sonic landscape Em creates with the subtle bass. Another highlight is the penetrating guitars accompanying the chorus. The beat oes its job perfectly – it gives off the horror/shock ambience that D12 really look to promote. Bizarre only serves to reassure me of his whackness, and Kon Artis does a good job.

That’s How is a well-executed piece of humour/shock rap. Basically, the premise of the song is how funny and bad things happen to people, narrated of course, by D12. There are some real funny examples in there, along with profanity and bad-manners of course, but a dark sense of humour reigns over everything…
Yo, ha, when you get your guns out of the stash
And gather all your homies up to go and shoot up a pad
Soon as you finish y'all run out of gas - you better haul a**
[D-12] That's how drivebys get fu*ked up
Hilarious in execution. The beat is simple, simply a banging bassline assisted by some nice guitar strings. This is nicely done, handled by Kon Artis, and aids the funny lyrics well. This is the first song without Eminem aiding in some form, and the other 5 members pull it off nicely

Fight Music is by far and away my favourite song on the LP. The beat is constructed by Dr. Dre, and it strikes me as more of a rock beat than a rap one. The song is absolutely driving, forceful, provocative, angry, aggressive – and more. The banging rock cum rap beat really pushes the song over the edge, and Eminem unsurprisingly offers the most insight into what the songs about, and really delivers some fierce, sharp, and clever lyrics in his verse…
If I could capture the rage of today's youth and bottle it
Crush the glass from my bare hands and swallow it
Then spit it back in the faces of you racists
and hypocrites who think the same sh*t but don't say sh*t
You Liberace's, Versace's, and you nazis
Watch me, cause you thinkin you got me in this hot seat
You motherf*ckers wanna JUDGE me cause you're NOT me
You'll never STOP me, I'm TOP speed as you POP me
I came to save these new generations of babies
from parents who failed to raise 'em cause they're lazy
to grow to praise me I'm makin 'em go crazy
That's how I got this whole nation to embrace me
I cripple any hypocritic critic I'm sic'd on.
Widely recognised as probably the best song on the LP, ‘Fight Music’ certainly lives up to its name. The rapping and lyrics are provocative and driving, and the production brilliantly supplements this. The hook also winds people up, which is the point. Fight Music also demonstrates D12 in full flow, Em is crazy and wild, Proof is smooth yet rugged, Kon Artis is comical and different – brilliant song.

To finish off the highlights of the album, I’ma choose Revelation. Basically a song where all the members of D12 get some time on the mic, to share their thoughts on their fame, their childhood and stuff. But don’t be fooled, this isn’t a nice song by any stretch of the imagination. D12 show some imagination on the mic here, with each member donating a decent verse, with stand-outs coming with Em, Proof and Swifty. Bizarre is simply sick – as per usual, and conceals his weak rapping skills with ill-advised ‘humour’. Dre again excels with the beat, with rock-ish electric guitars ripping through the song, and driving the song forward.

Devils Night is a very mixed bag if you ask me. First off all, D12 as rappers.

Well, Eminem stands heads and shoulders above the rest of his crew. Simple. His wit, literacy, writing, rhymes, flow – in fact everything, is too good. While most of the other D12 members simply resort to pure shock tales to gain attention, Em can stay clear of this with his charisma and skills. He’s the star, and his influence is all over the record, from hooks to verses to writing. Out of the others, Proof has the most commercial appeal, with his Method Man-esque gravely flow, and his off the wall freestyles. He’s got a fair amount of skills. Swifty is also a fave of mine – his rhyming is way above average. Kon Artis mainly uses Redman tactics to things, as he relies on humour to get him by. Kuniva’s appearances are limited – but he does ok. And now Bizarre. Whack is about the right word. He’s completely whack. His flow is crap, his rhymes while ok, are too gruesome and shocking, and he simply can’t rap. Out of all of D12, Bizarre has the least skills, and relies the most on shocking listeners.

And yes, lyrically, this is a pretty gruesome album. From the blunt and to the point intro, through to the fierce and savage attack on Limp Bizkit in ’Girls, D12 certainly indulge in anything offensive that they can think of. Profanity is very high, and the lyrics can get pretty disturbing (especially Bizarre’s). To me this is a big let-down – this insanity and craziness rather spoils the album. D12 are decent enough supporting rappers, and Em is the star. With a few more literate songs, this would be more appealing I’d think. Of course when this clicks it doesn’t particularly matter, as songs like Fight Music, American Psycho, and Sh*t Can Happen are fine songs. But when it doesn’t work (Pimp like Me, Nasty Mind), lyrically at least, the songs leave a sour taste in the mouth.

Although the production does everything it can to possibly help the album. Every producer listed on the album comes up with the good. Every single cut Dre contributes is good – some of his best work in 2001 in fact. He really brings some diversity and skills to the mix. Eminem also demonstrates his growing skills – as executive producer he really demonstrates some nifty beatmaking. The highlight is American Pyscho, with the dark lyrics excellently supported by very ominous production. Even Kon Artis comes up with the goods when called upon.

Devils Night is a difficult album to review. While there’s a brilliant album in there somewhere, the often sick and disturbing lyrics rather disguise this. The production is very good, courtesy of Dre. Eminem is the star in terms of rapping, and the rest of D12 more than adequately support him (bar Bizarre). And D12 show that they can put these things into a song, and create a brilliant one at that. But you can’t gloss over the fact that this album goes out to offend and shock, and it often succeeds in this task. It’s a shame because these boys, I feel, didn’t need to go down this route to gain attention. This is a commercially successful album, there's nothing 'hardocre' about it - don't let the profanity fool you. I'm of the opinion that all this swearing and bad-behaviour is 'organised'. ie. D12 are acting this way to gain attention and sales. And the album is good food for MTV, especially when they need some good, 'hardcore' rap to show (hehehehe). But enough of the cynicism. Devil’s Night is a professionally put together package – the rapping is strong, the production is smooth, mixing is excellent – just the lyrical content leaves a lot to be desired.

D12 fans – 5 out of 5
Hip-hop fans – 3.5 out of 5
Non hip-hop fans – 2/5

Devil’s Night gets 3.5 out of 5 from me, and hence enters the decent, if nothing special, hall of Recommended albums.


Recommended: Yes