Infinite by Eminem Review

In 1996 Eminem released his rather ignored debut LP, Infinite. Being unimpressed with everything he's really done since Eminem Show, I decided to go back to his beginning and check this album out. A rather low budget with no backing from anyone besides a few friends to hop on the album. This ended up selling only 1,000 copies world wide and that's no surprise. But is it worth visiting? Let's see.

Infinite

Straight off the bat, the album sets a very underground tone. All tracks produced by Mr. Porter AKA Kon Artist AKA Denaun Porter AKA One more name change please. Beats are passable really. Most are samples. But for our host, he's alright here. He's adapted to a very AZ like flow, instead of creating his own. Little weak personally, this would later result in his beef with Cage Kennylz but that's a topic for another review. Anyhow, decent opener. Nothing special.

W.E.G.O (interlude)

11 tracks, thank god we had room for a skit.

It's O.K. feat. Eye-Kyu

If you were unaware Eye-Kyu is an original member of the farce known as D12 but back in their more tolerable days. He only does the hook here. This track basically just says despite all his problems, everything is alright. A prelude to his darker work I suppose. You just don't feel a lot of emotion here and that's a bit of a problem. 

313 feat. Eye-Kyu

You can be Run-D, you'll never be the MC. I'll stop the alphabet at S and get it down to a T

Eye-Kyu gets his own verse, he's very hit or miss in his lines. He's calls himself a wack, fresh MC so ...Have at that. Em holds up fine. He tries a lot of wordplay in here, some of it works.

Tonite

Really nothing to say about this. Some drug and alcohol references. Partying and, and eh...

Maxine feat. Mr Porter and Three

I know this crackfiend named Maxine, who needs a vaccine

Three? that's your rap name?..Alright. This song actually has a topic, it's about a girl named as you could figure, Maxine. She's got an STD and she's lying about it. Decent track, it has a real topic so that's a plus.

Open Mic feat. Thyme

Basically a battle track, one of the better beats. Kinda laughable considering how we're now aware that Eminem used to bomb at battles all the time, but it's not bad. Just to throw a little creativity into this, rather than Eminem just going on about how he slaughters MCs, maybe Proof coulda hopped on this they coulda did a pseudo battle. Similar to Meth Vs The Chef on Tical. Just a thought, not that it matters now. Given their tight friendship i'm surprised Proof didn't drop a verse here.

Never 2 Far

There's a lot of little intros on this album...I don't like it but i'll deal with it. This entry is solid for what it is, despite the irritating cut in skits. Here Slim feels like he's meant to do much more in life, foreshadowing.

Searchin' feat Eye-Kyu

Little break up track. Pre-Kim rage. Not much to care about to be honest. It's not very detailed nor is there enough emotion to really relate to it.

Backstabber feat. Mr. Porter

APB on a man in green hair

Supposedly this is taking shots at a guy named Champtown (who even had green hair) who tried to hit on his new girlfriend Kim. He sounds more disgruntled than angry at this guy. Not too bad, could've improved with taking actual shots at this guy if he's really pissed.

Jealousy Woes II

Sampling The World is Yours by Nas and I can't say it impresses or even fits. It's a far different beat than the rest on the album. There's an odd mocking of a girl talking shit to him. Reminds me of that old tape that leaked out of Eminem ranting on black girls and saying he isn't done with their "n*gger" shit. I'm sure he's realized how immature that was but, the memories are still here...

The Highlights:

Infinite 

Open Mic

The Lowlights:

Searchin'

Jealousy Woes II

The Gem:

Never 2 Far

Is It Worth Checking Out?

I'm sure it's out of print, but even if you find a used copy. You can live without this. If you're a die hard Em fan, sure see it. Otherwise, there's nothing new here you can't find anywhere else. It's sounds like he was trying to create a album of battle verses with some random heartbreak tracks. I didn't care for too much of it. Not awful, just not interesting. 

Overall Grade: C-

Until Next Time, One Love.