* Source: Bravo Magazine
(Credit to Bavariangirl 2003 who posted the info on the Kon Artis yahoo group)
It isn’t easy to grow up at 7 Mile Road. The D12 crew grew up with lots of problems that are related to ghetto life. In an interview given to Bravo Magazine, Kon Artis talks about his past.
He explains the context in which he grew up:
‘My Childhood was okay. I lived in a Ghetto. Everybody who lived
there was poor, so we didnt fight each other, we only had fights
with people who had more than we had (laughs). It was very rough: I
have seen how people got killed or robbed.’
As a kid, Kon Artis was a little thug. He used to steal, which is something he regrets now:
‘Yes, I stole in many Shops and I broke into houses. That was
crazy shit. I was really stupid at that time.’
Because he was hungry and thus, in constant need of ‘cash’, Kon Artis used to break into houses and to steal in shops. He and some other kids sold the things:
‘I was hungry and needed food. I always needed things that I
could sell for food.’
It is not that Kon Artis’ parents completely lacked food. Most of the time, they had enough to eat, but when you live in the ghetto, you also try to imitate the other kids’ behavior in order to look “cool”:
‘Most of the time we had enough to eat, but sometimes not.
And I also did it because the others did it too. It wasnt really cool and
I had to pay for it. But that are things that you learn when you
wake up and your are simply stupid.’
Denaun Porter is grateful to his parents, because he gratuated from High School:
‘I was at school too. My mom took care of that I graduated from
high school. I am really thankful for that.’
Many people may wonder about the huge complicity inside of the D12 family. The D12 have been friends and accomplices since they were teenagers. Kon Artis even worked at the same place as Eminem. A fast food where both friends preferred mad rhymes to work in itself, which drove the boss crazy (you guessed it right!):
‘ I worked about a year and a half for UPS, then Eminem helped me
to get a job at a Fast Food Restaurant. We worked there together,
and got fired together. That was funny.’
To all of you who keep asking yourselves what keeps the D12 crew together, Kon Artis already knows the answer:
‘Love (laughs)! Love and God. We know each other since we were
teenager. We grew up together since the early nineties.’