Facts about Kon Artis

When people talk about D12, they usually talk more about Eminem or the D12 group globally. People rarely talk about the other D12 members individually, although there is a lot to say about a member like Kon Artis, for instance.

Denine Porter aka Mr Denaun Porter aka Kon Artis was born on December the 7th, 1976 in Detroit.
He had a passion for basketball and wanted to play in the NBA, but unfortunately, he got shot in the leg and had to stop playing basketball.
It is also known that he loves bowling.

Kon Artis grew up at 7 Mile Road.

Some bad mouthed people also say that he used to steal cars before being famous. True or not, you can hardly grow up in a ghetto like 7 Mile Road without being a real gangsta. And the D12 crew is composed of Runyan Avenue soldiers, as we know.
Most of the people ignore that Kon Artis has produced most of the Infinite album with Eminem. Besides the D12 group, Kon Artis used to belong to the group Da Brigade with his fellow Kuniva. They both had an unreleased CD that was supposed to be released on Federation Records, but the label broke down before the Cd could be released.

When his group D12 was targetted by the media about violence, Kon Artis reacted this way and justifiedly pointed out their hypocrisy:

‘You can’t just ridicule us for being real, the media is real. ‘Faces of Death,’ that’s a movie you can buy in a video store. I can’t even watch that movie for 10 minutes. I’m not that sick.’

When he’s not recording, Kon Artis spends time producing. He has worked with some other famous artists such as Method Man, as he points it out in an interview given to Chronic Magazine:

“I stayed in the studio. I was working on other people’s
albums. I [produced] “P.I.M.P.” and “Stunt 101” [for G-Unit]. I
worked on the 8 Mile Soundtrack. I worked with Method Man, Redman,
Bilal, Rah Digga, Snoop Dogg.”

Kon Artis also revealed some interesting infos about the upcoming D12 album in the same interview:

”It’s not the same sound of the last album. “Loyalty” is a
good song. It [describes] our relationship as D-12 – our loyalty to
each other before our loyalty to the label. Sometimes that’s more
important. People look at us as a group that was just put together,
but we really grew up together. We’re really a group. “Good Die
Young” focuses on early demise. I wonder what Pac and Biggie would
be doing right now if they were still alive. “Bitch” is funny. You
would expect us to be doggin’ a chick, but it’s a funny story about
men v. women. This album is different from a lot of music that’s out
right now.”

It is so true that the D12 group is a story of loyalty. True friends who grew up in the same part of Detroit and who will stay friends for life.

Being asked if stardom has had negative effects on him, Kon Artis responded:

“I used to like to go to the hood a lot to free my mind and
get it away from being in a place where my friends couldn’t live
next door. But, I had to learn to [let that go]. They’re still my
friends. It’s hard for me to have relationships. I haven’t been able
to have a person life. I already have trust issues with women. My
personal life is “let me go to the studio with Dre.” He’s works in
the back room and I work in the front room. I work that close to him
everyday. I had to move to California. That was tough. I’m so used
to Detroit. I can’t go certain places that I want to go. Niggas that
don’t have nothing or anything to lose don’t have respect for life.
So, a little chain or some diamonds will make them want to take from
you. I’m not going to put myself in that predicament, so I go to the
club deep. If you’re going to go at me, you’re going to go at the
rest of these niggas – period. It has to be that way. Other than
that…”

His point of view on fame is also summarized in “When The Music Stops”:

“I was happy having a deal at first,
Thought money would make me happy but
It only made my pain worst,
It hurts when u see ur friends turn their back on u dawg
When u ain’t got nothing left but ur word and ur balls
N ur stress full of cause
Of ur new friends they beggin with their hands out
Checking for ur record when its selling
When it aint, that’s the end, no laughs
No friends no girl
Just the gin u drink till u car spin u then
Screech
Damn!
Crash
U slam into the wall and u fall
Out the car, trying to crawl with one arm
About to lose it all in a pool of alcohol
If my funeral’s tomorrow, wonder if they would even call when the music stops…”

If you want to listen to some former songs featuring Kon Artis, you will be able to listen to “Skull Therapy” and “Searchin’” here:

http://d12_israel.tripod.com/links/kon.html

You may find some additional info on Kon Artis’ personal webpage:

http://www.djknice.com/KonArtisArtistPage.htm

As Kon Artis points it out “ Everyone in my group is just dope lyrically”. So dear fellow Eminem and D12 lovers, take time to study each MC of the group. Each of them brings a particular note to the Dirty Dozen group