Eminem’s “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” Originally A D12 Song, According To Kuniva

With D12’s The Devil’s Night Mixtape scheduled for release today (October 30), D12 members Swifty McVay, Kuniva, and Bizarre spoke with HotNewHipHop about the original Devil’s Night and the upcoming follow-up to the 2001 album.

According to Swifty, the original Devil’s Night album was inspired by Devil’s Night in Detroit, which takes place on October 30. He explained that it was a way of representing for their city.

“We wanted to rep our city,” Swifty McVay said. “With our styles. Being dark, hardcore emcees from the city. We wanted to do something to put our city on the map. And the first thing we thought about was Devil’s Night. Cause Devil’s Night only happens in Detroit. The night before Halloween. And our styles. And the way we rap and relate to the essence of that day. So, we just wanted to go ahead and bring that to the forefront to let the world know ‘This is what it is the night before Halloween.’ And we all got together and got beats. From the ground up and just began to process the record.”

While speaking on favorites from Devil’s Night, Kuniva revealed that Eminem’s The Eminem Show record, “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” was a song that was originally intended for placement on Devils Night.

According to Kuniva, Bizarre was on the song first, but was talking “crazy” on the record and was encouraged to tone it down. Despite receiving the approval of Dr. Dre, Kuniva says Bizarre ultimately passed on the record, and Eminem picked it up from there.

“We did a lot of records, man,” Kuniva said. “I remember just one particular record. It ended up being an Eminem record. What was that ‘Sorry Mama?’ It was ‘Sorry Mama.’ One of his biggest hits. And we had that song first. And actually, Bizarre was on that song first. And he was talking some crazy shit. And the whole group was like ‘Yo, you can’t say this shit. It’s too much.’ So, he got a call from Dr. Dre. And Dre was like ‘Say that shit, man. You gotta say it. Blah blah blah.’ But after a while, he ultimately gave into the group and was like ‘You know what? Fuck it, man.’”

Later in the interview, Bizarre offered some insight into the idea behind The Devil’s Night Mixtape. He also revealed that the project will feature guest appearances from G-Unit, Crooked I, Slum Village, and more.

“Basically, it is a mixtape, so that’s the number one thing,” Bizarre said. “And the number two is we’re going to the mindstate of the devil. Basically, devil’s night. So, it’s like the old essence. The old D12 that you got back in the day. In a mixtape form. The raw skills, raw lyrics, the battle shit. All that in one. So, it’s gonna be crazy, man.”