Searching for Jerry Garcia

Searching for Jerry Garcia
Studio album by Proof
Released	August 9, 2005
Recorded	2004–2005
Genre	Midwest hip hop, hardcore hip hop
Length	67:37
Label	Iron Fist Records
Producer	Mr. Porter, Eminem, B-Real, Emile, Nick Speed, Sicknotes, Black Milk, Fredwreck, Essman, DJ Jewels, Ski, Salam Wreck, Dirty Bird
Proof chronology
Grown Man Shit (2005) Searching for Jerry Garcia (2005) Hand2Hand: The Official Mixtape Instruction Manual (2006)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Situation	[2]
NME	[3]
HipHopDX.com	[4]
RapReviews.com	[5]

Searching for Jerry Garcia is the second and final studio album by Detroit rapper Proof of D12, released on August 9, 2005. It was the only solo album that Proof released on a major label before his death. It reached number 65 on the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart. The album is named after Grateful Dead member Jerry Garcia. The album's release date, August 9, 2005, intentionally coincided with the ten-year anniversary of Garcia's death.

Proof used the title of this album and the original song titles ("Jump Biatch" was originally "Eric Clapton Jr.") to refer to famous deaths that people are uncertain about. He extends this concept to express suicidal thoughts of his own on the track "Kurt Kobain".

Album title

In a Rolling Stone Magazine article, Proof explained the album's title:

While recording his solo debut, late D12 rapper Proof found inspiration in an unlikely person — the late jam rocker Jerry Garcia: "I was watching Searching for Bobby Fisher and Mark Hicks (D12's manager) put in a Jerry Garcia documentary," says Proof, who also serves as Eminem's right-hand rapper. "In this movie, he talked about never doing the same show twice. I did that to D12 sets overseas. Plus, he didn't care about record sales — he just wanted to make fans happy."

In a nod to their similarities, Proof, born DeShaun Holton, named his debut Searching for Jerry Garcia. The album was released August 9, 2005, the tenth anniversary of Garcia's death, on Proof's independent label, Iron Fist Records. "I called his estate, and I couldn't believe they gave me permission [to use the name]!" says the rapper. "They didn't ask for money. So I'm like a disciple, preaching the gospel of Jerry Garcia. The dude is phenomenal."

Besides Garcia, Proof also gives a shout-out to Nirvana's late frontman in Searching's closing track, "Kurt Kobain" [sic]. "The circumstances of Kurt's death are freaky to me. I don't think he killed himself," Proof says. "But I'm not trying to keep Elvis alive, and I'm not saying that Tupac is in Cuba."

Making the album

Songs included on this album had been recorded as early as 2002. The original version of "72nd & Central" was available to download for free under the title "1x1" that year on his official site along with "Violence" and "Yzark", the latter appearing on I Miss the Hip Hop Shop.^[6] The original version "Clap Wit Me" was released in 2003 on a DJ Thoro mixtape. "Ali" was also released as a vinyl single in 2002 under the name "One, Two" with it also being included on The Electric Coolaid Acid Testing EP.^[7]

Track listing

Samples

• "Clap wit Me" contains a sample from "Total Satisfaction" by Brief Encounter
• "Forgive Me" contains a sample from "Ghetto Qu'ran (Forgive Me)" by 50 Cent
• "High Rollers" contains a sample from LTD
• "No. T. Lose" contains a sample from "Snowflake" by Tamita
• "M.A.D." contains a sample from "W.A.S.P." by The Doors. It also references to The Dope Show by Marilyn Manson
• "Black Wrist Bro's" contains a sample taken from the motion picture "The Boondock Saints"
• "Kurt Kobain" contains a sample from "Blue Sky and Silver Bird" by Lamont Dozier

Notes

• For a "limited time" this album shipped as a box set including "clean" and "explicit" album editions as well as a "special edition" DVD, containing interviews and other similar content.
• On the clean / edited version of the album the track "Jump Biatch" was listed as "Jump B***ch".
• The limited DVD contains unreleased footage from D12's European Tour, also included is a behind the scenes look at the making of Searching for Jerry Garcia.

Personnel

Chart history

References