Eminem - Infinite

Is the mostly forgotten debut album by one of the future’s biggest rappers interesting ?

1996 was the first year worth living, existing before was simply a waiting room. Coming to be later was missing the golden moment, the culmination of centuries needed to create the combination of atoms required to come up with something special and someone that could change the world. Sadly, my mother gave into the bottle while gestating and I came out instead of a world changer, cheers!

For my album I thought about many options, I thought it was a great chance to discover something new for myself that was worthwhile. So, the album was going to be Killing Joke’s Democracy, but it turns out that album is hard to get through once, let alone various times to get an idea of the intention.

So, I came back to what really represents 1996 for me and the album that I connected with most from the year. Eminem’s Infinite is the chosen project.

A very obvious artist but an album that many people have probably never listened to outside of the terrible remaster of the title track. Actually, if you’ve only listened to the new version of Infinite you’re in for more of a treat. The original has one of the grooviest bass beats in the background that I’ve heard.

Infinite can be summed up in simplicity. The themes are straightforward, the beats laidback and the delivery intricate yet smooth.

Marshall was 23 at the time and obviously discovering his sound, hence the sound and vibe of this album was abandoned on future releases.

But for what it is, a debut that was meant to increase notoriety in the Detroit area and start to put him on the national map, it works. Flows are slick, the bars are already jam packed with alliteration that will, years later, be one of the defining aspects of his style. Lyrical themes go from standard party bops on “Tonite”, day to day struggle in the ghetto on “It’s OK”, obligatory love song on “Searching” and, more interestingly, the first flash of what would be the Slim Shady persona on “Backstabber”.

I come back to this album at least once every few months due to how smooth it plays and the almost innocent and naive nature to it. It’s Eminem before the fame and it’s nice to see him just simply spit bars with no agenda.

Anyway fuck this review, go listen to the album and tell me something I don’t know about it.