Proof was two albums into a promising solo career when Mario Ethridge shot and killed him during an argument over a game of billiards in 2006. He was a childhood friend of Eminem, member of D12, and author of unimpeachable rhymes. If he were alive today, he would be 42 and still slaughtering 90% of the current rapper population on the mic.
Click through the gallery to revisit 10 of his best moments. RIP Proof.
"1999 MTV News Freestyle" w/ Eminem
In 1999, MTV News visited Eminem in Detroit to find out more about the origins of the rising star. They filmed Em spitting a freestyle in his car with Proof. It's the level of freestyle where you can tell it's strictly off the dome, which makes it all the more impressive. Plus, the camaraderie is evident. Eminem and Proof were best friends.
"Forgive Me" feat. 50 Cent
Arguably the best Proof song ever, "Forgive Me" takes the form of a confessional and a lament for the world that he was brought into. "Barely raised by my dysfunctional fam/ Here I stand as a dysfunctional man," he begins. Proof doesn't exactly come across as a good guy here. But you can't help but admire his honesty and eloquence.
"Clap With Me"
Proof released his sophomore album Searching For Jerry Garcia on the 10th anniversary of the death of Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia. One of the album's strongest tracks, "Clap With Me" is a chest-thumping ode to D12 and a recollection of Proof's come-up on the Detroit rap scene and the things of which he once dreamed (most notably, having sex with J-Lo).
"Ja In A Bra" (Ja Rule diss)
In the early- Ja Rule's Murder Inc was beefing with D12 and Shady Records. Ja Rule had called out Proof in a freestyle, so Proof clapped back by putting a Ja Rule diss track on his 2004 debut album I Miss the Hip Hop Shop. He compares Ja's voice the that of the Cookie Monster and relentlessly insults his prowess on the mic and with the pen. "You cowards, do something before we do ours/ I could write a Ja Rule album in two hours."
"Kurt Kobain"
"Kurt Kobain" begins with the sound of a pencil scribbling and Proof gruffly mumbling to himself. "This my last letter right here... fuck this world, let's get the fuck outta here." It's a suicide letter. It's a fictional suicide letter, but it carries a certain weight given that Proof died less than a year after the song was released. The confessional nature of Proof's letter somewhat mirrors Eminem's "Stan."
"Tim Westwood '99 Freestyle" w/ Eminem
None of Tim Westwood's weekly #TBT freestyle releases have topped Proof and Eminem's previously unheard radio freestyle session from 1999, shortly before the release of Eminem's major label debut. The Slim Shady LP. The D12 brethren go back and forth for almost 13 minutes, spitting the sharpest and most diabolical of rhymes over expert beat change-ups from Westwood. If Proof were to pick one document to commemorate his time on earth, he may well have picked this freestyle.
"Trapped"
Released posthumously on the 2006 D12 compilation album Eminem Presents: The Re-Up, "Trapped" clocks in under a minute, a sprint to the finish, quick 16 of pure flames from Big Proof (with the occasional injection from Shady). If Proof were a drum, he wound the "Trapped" snare. He and this snare are very compatible.
"High Roller" feat. Method Man & B-Real
"High Roller" is all about earthly pleasures, from "refills to "E pills." From the way Proof trades bars with Meth and B-Real on the chorus, one might assume this song was recorded in 1995, not 2005.
"Shit Can Still Happen" feat. T-Flame & Supa Emcee
You can tell why Eminem and Proof were best buds by listening to "Shit Can Still Happen." First of all, this beat reeks of Shady. And then there's the twisted, Ginsu knife-sharp sense of humor. "I shit on the mic like my breath just stank/ like my tongue is tissue and my belly's a septic tank."
"Life" (prod. J Dilla)
J Dilla passed in February 2006 two months before proof. "Life" is one of his most celebrated instrumentals (Bill Evans' piano on "Blue and Green" is the sample). In the early '90s Dilla and Proof released a full-length demo together under the name "Funky Cowboys". That's where we get "Life"... the work of two talented men now dead.