The hip-hop sextet—Proof, Kon Artis, Kuniva, Bizarre, Swift and Em himself—return with their sophomore Shady/Interscope effort, D12 World, April 27. The new album hits retail almost three years after the release of their debut, Devil’s Night, which debuted at #1 in June 2001, with 370k in sales, going on to sell more than 2 million to date.
Expectations are soaring for the latest effort, with the label putting north of 1.4 million albums on the street. Dr. Dre produced a couple of tracks, while Eminem’s hand is all over the record. Cypress Hill and labelmate Obie Trice also make appearances.
Said the label’s sales/marketing guru Steve Berman: "The goal was to show how the group has developed as a well-rounded act, and the work that [Shady Records head and Eminem manager] Paul Rosenberg and Eminem have done, on both the creative and marketing level, to establish the group. The album is even deeper than the first one, and the group is committed to working hard to make it happen."
Retail insiders are looking for first-week sales in the 500k-600k range.
The first video/single, "My Band," which prominently features the group as a boy band and Slim Shady in a matador’s outfit, has already crossed over into the Top 5 at Pop radio, while the video was premiered on Launch, where the band is also Artist of the Month," then aired on TRL, 106 & Park, and Fuse. The video nabbed #1 on TRL the first week of April.
The tongue-in-cheek clip confirms that D12 are not simply Marshall Mathers’ backing group.
"It’s a great thing to be associated with Eminem," agrees Rosenberg. "But it can also be a hindrance. We’re trying to show all six play equal parts in the group."
Some of the project’s marketing and promotional initiatives include:
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