Eminem's First Album

Crucially, Infinite ’s failure was the catalyst for everything that followed. Humiliated and broke, Eminem nearly gave up rapping entirely. But the rejection hardened him. In the months after the album’s release, his life spiraled—he was fired from his restaurant job, evicted from his home, and witnessed a violent assault on his mother. Out of that despair, the voice of was born. The polite, technical rapper of Infinite was replaced by a psychotic, hilarious, and unapologetic monster. As he rapped on The Slim Shady LP ’s “Rock Bottom”:

If you listen to Infinite expecting the zany, angry, shock-rap of his later work, you will be shocked. This album sounds nothing like The Marshall Mathers LP . eminem's first album

Today, Infinite is a prized collector’s item. Original cassettes have sold online for thousands of dollars. In 2016, Eminem officially re-released the album on streaming services for the first time, remastering the original tapes. Crucially, Infinite ’s failure was the catalyst for

When people ask about Eminem's first album, they are often surprised to learn it isn't The Slim Shady LP . While Slim Shady was his major-label debut and the one that made him a superstar, his true first studio album is , released independently in 1996. In the months after the album’s release, his

Sonically, Infinite sounds almost nothing like the angry, chaotic Eminem the world would soon come to know. The beats, produced entirely by Mr. Porter (Denaun Porter) and The Bass Brothers, are smooth, jazz-tinged, and reminiscent of mid-90s East Coast hip-hop. Lyrically, Eminem’s flow is a clear homage—some might say a carbon copy—of Nas and AZ.

Because the album is short (only 11 tracks), it is meant to be digested as a whole, but here are the standouts: