D12 come back with ‘warm-up’ album

D12 rapper Bizarre has revealed the group’s upcoming mix tape is not an official “comeback”, but more of a “warm-up” for a new album.

Band member Bizarre revealed the rappers – who count Eminem as one of their members – are to release a new mix tape to get their fans talking, but warned it should not be looked on as a “comeback”.

He said: “The mix tape we’re doing is just a warm-up, just to get the vibe going and get the streets talking. We can’t just come out with an album and ain’t nobody heard from us in a while. Right now it’s really about lyrics and mix tape styles to break it up with some D12 concepts and ideas.

“Everybody’s looking at this as a comeback but we just had to get ourselves together because for a while it wasn’t really focused on music, we just had a lot of things going on.”

The ‘Purple Pills’ hitmaker admitted the death of bandmate Proof – who was killed by a fatal gunshot wound in April 2006 – has had a big impact on D12.

Bizarre – real name Rufus Johnson – told hip hop music website SOHH: “The passing of Proof really affected us. We learned to really appreciate life more. We definitely had to step up more and play more of a leadership role as a group to make sure everything was focused and keep this D12 movement moving and alive. That’s one thing that Proof definitely wanted to happen so we gotta see through with his wishes.”