Songoftheday 10/07/24 -So I get off stage right drop the mic walk up to these hot chicks and I'm all like, "Sup, ladies? My name's Slim Shady I'm the lead singer of D12, baby"...
"My Band" - D-12 featuring Eminem
from the album D-12 World (2004)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 13
Today's song comes from the rap collective D-12, put together by Eminem, one of if not the most prominent rap artists of that point in time. After the group's first album, Devil's Night, scored a top-20 hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the spring of 2001 with "Purple Pills", Eminem went on to put out his Eminem Show disc, which spawned four big hits including the top ten single "Without Me". In the middle of that, he starred in a loose bio-pic 8 Mile and had the biggest hit of his career with the inspiring "Lose Yourself" which spent a dozen weeks at #1 on the Hot 100.
In the spring of 2004 Proof, Bizarre, Mr. Porter, Kuniva, and Swifty McVey, as well as Eminem, returned with a second album release together D-12 World. The lead single from the set was "My Band", which exposed the volatile nature of the group in itself. Written by the members with co-producer Luis Resto, the lyrics have them taking shots, but amongst each other, not to rivals, with Eminem starting out bragging about his leadership in the gang. Meanwhile, the others are complaining about how they're shut out to the sidelines, stuck in a van and not allowed on interviews. It means to be comical, but to a casual listener it's not sure if the humor sticks. But with the massive fanbase Em had, it was quite enough to get by. His production with Resto is the juvenile sounds that mark his "Slim Shady" fodder, and the others' verses are more interesting than his. But Eminem takes the lion's share, as well as play this all out in the music video, which parodies a bunch of MTV rivals, and even taking a stab underhandedly on the Janet Jackson Super Bowl debacle with Bizarre's costume change...
"My Band" became D-12's biggest hit, reaching the top ten on Billboard's Hot 100 in May of 2004, while peaking at #26 on their R&B Singles chart and #7 on the Rap Songs list. On the radio, the song hit #3 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, and topped the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand, and Norway, and reached the top ten in the United Kingdom (#2), Germany (#2), the Netherlands (#2), Ireland (#2), Canada (#3 Sales/#5 Airplay), Denmark (#3), Switzerland (#3), Austria (#4), Croatia (#8), Sweden (#9), Belgium (#9 Flanders/#15 Wallonia), and Romania (#10). The D-12 World album, released in April of that year, hit #1 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, going on to sell over two million copies.
Both D-12 and the album will be back to the series.
(4/10)
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Next up, at the MTV Movie Awards...
And lastly, in concert...
Up tomorrow: Outkast associate has no patience.
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