Music
Bugz
1978–1999 · rapper
Founding member of D12, a gifted Detroit freestyler who was shot and killed in 1999, just before the group's breakthrough.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 21- Birth name
- Karnail Pitts
- Also known as
- Robert Beck
- Detroit years
- 1978–1999
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Bugz was born in Detroit and grew up in the east-side rap scene of the 1990s, where he earned a reputation well beyond the city as a sharp freestyle battle rapper. In 1996 Proof invited him into the collective he was forming with Bizarre, Kuniva and Denaun Porter; the group, D12, released The Underground EP in 1997, and each member adopted an alter ego, Bugz becoming “Robert Beck”. In 1999 he released his own These Streets EP and guested on other local rappers' songs. On May 21, 1999, at 21, he was shot and killed in Detroit following a dispute. Before his death he had asked that his friend Swifty McVay join D12; Swifty took his place, and Eminem also joined the lineup that went on to multi-platinum success. All the members got memorial tattoos, D12 World (2004) includes the tributes “Good Die Young” and “Bugz '97”, and D12 Forever, Volume 1 (2026) features his previously unreleased verses.
Highlights
- Founding member of D12 (1996).
- Released the These Streets EP in 1999.
- Honored on D12 World with “Good Die Young” and “Bugz '97”.
- Unreleased verses appear on D12 Forever, Volume 1 (2026).