Proof (rapper)
American rapper (1973–2006)
DeShaun Dupree Holton (October 2, 1973 – April 11, 2006), known professionally as Proof, was an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. He was a member of the groups Soul Intent, 5 Elementz, Funky Cowboys, Promatic, Goon Sqwad, and D12. A close friend of rapper Eminem since childhood, Proof was often a hype man at Eminem's concerts.
Early life
Holton was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Sharallene "Pepper" Holton, a single mother. His father, McKinley Jackson, was a music producer who left to pursue his career prior to Holton's birth. Holton was close friends with Eminem from a young age.
Career
Originally known as Maximum, under the moniker "Proof", Holton first rose to national prominence when he formed D12, "The Dirty Dozen", in 1996 with his friends Eminem, Bizarre, Mr. Porter, and a high school friend Eye-Kyu. Shortly after that, Proof recruited two friends, B-Flat and Dirty Ratt, to the group. This created the first lineup of D12.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Proof (rapper)” as american rapper (1973–2006). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q314597. VIAF identifies the subject as 29282102. The Library of Congress control number is no2006035664. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1973, 2006 and 1996.
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This entry incorporates text from “Proof (rapper)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.