Another Round with Eminem and His Gang

Rapper Eminem released “D12 World,” hip-hop group D12’s second album, with five African Americans whom he formed a band with in 1990 when the then-15-year-old worked with them at a club.

“D12” refers to the Dirty Dozen. The six members include Proof, Swifty, Bizzare, Kuniva, and Kon Artis. The group refers to themselves as a dozen because another six, their disrupted self-avatar, were added. The term “dirty” was incorporated to signify their intention to bring something revolting and intolerable to the music scene.

The album contains 20 songs. Their first single, “My Band,” which takes a satirical look at the media attention on Eminem rather than the entire group, has met with success, placing seventh on this week’s Billboard Single chart. The album hit stands in the U.S. with a Parental Advisory label.

The song “Good Die Young,” near the end of the album, is dedicated to the memory of D-12 member Bugz, who was shot to death in 1998. The songs “Six in the Morning” and “Loyalty” have received positive reviews, reflecting the unique power of D12.

Their album has not been approved for sale in Korea because of the abusive language and extreme expressions. A “cleaner version” of the album by Korea Media Rating Board filtering out the vulgar language found on the album was ruled “inappropriate for teenagers.” The cleaner version contains parts where some of the raps are cut out. Their first album, “Devil’s Night,” was on sale in Korea as a “cleaner version.”

Sun-Woo Kim sublime@donga.com