Eminem - Infinite (1996)

Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born in 1972, and is professionally known as Eminem. After releasing 'The Slim Shady EP' in 1997, he signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and subsequently achieved mainstream popularity with 'The Slim Shady LP', and his next two releases 'The Marshall Mathers LP' (2000) and 'The Eminem Show' (2002) were worldwide successes and were both nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. However, everyone has to start somewhere, and 'The Slim Shady LP' wasn't actually his first album under name of Eminem. In 1996 he recorded his debut album 'Infinite' for independent label Web Entertainment label. Recording sessions took place at the Bass Brothers' studio, with production handled by Mr. Porter, Proof, and Eminem himself. The album features guest vocals from fellow rappers Proof, Mr. Porter, Eye-Kyu, Three and Thyme, as well as singer Angela Workman on the track 'Searchin''. Copies were pressed on vinyl and cassette, and Eminem sold them out of the trunk of his car in Detroit. The album was a commercial failure, selling a total of about 1,000 copies, with lyrical subjects including his struggle to raise his newborn daughter, Hailie Jade Scott Mathers, on little money. During this period his rhyming style, primarily inspired by rappers Nas, Esham and AZ, lacked the comically violent slant for which he later became known, and Detroit disc jockeys largely ignored 'Infinite', with the feedback that he did receive ("Why don't you go into rock and roll?") leading him to craft angrier, moodier tracks. It's currently not available from any online music store, but deserves a re-appraisal, as now that we know what was to come later you can definitely hear sparks of something promising on here.  

Track listing

01 Infinite
02 W.E.G.O. (Interlude) (skit performed by Proof and DJ Head)
03 It's O.K. (featuring Eye-Kyu)
04 Tonite
05 313 (featuring Eye-Kyu)
06 Maxine (featuring Mr. Porter and Three)
07 Open Mic (featuring Thyme)
08 Never 2 Far
09 Searchin' (featuring Mr. Porter and Angela Workman)
10 Backstabber
11 Jealousy Woes II

Suggested by 'The Greatest Albums You'll Never Hear' by Bruno MacDonald