DETROIT: Eminem has praised rapper Proof, who was shot dead earlier this week, for his “guidance and encouragement,” calling him “my best friend,” in a posting on his Web site.

Proof, whose real name is Deshaun Holton, was killed in a shooting at the CCC, a nightclub. The 32-year-old rapper was the best man in Eminem’s January wedding. Seldom was Eminem seen in public without Proof. “He pushed me to become who I am. Without Proof’s guidance and encouragement there would have been a Marshall Mathers, but probably not an Eminem and certainly never a Slim Shady,” the statement by the 33-year-old rap superstar said. “He can never, ever be replaced. He was, and always will be, my best friend.”