Infinite (album)

Infinite is the first album by hip-hop artist Eminem, made and produced with help from The Bass Brothers and fellow D12 member Kon Artis (Denaun, who features on Maxine and Searchin') in 1996. Infinite was only made on cassette and vinyl. Only 400 copies were made, though compact disc copies have been made and can be constantly found on sites such as eBay. Eminem sold these tapes out of the trunk of his car in Detroit. The album is quite rare and cannot be found in stores. The song "Backstabber" is a re-cut version of a song called "Fuckin' Backstabber", which is featured on a demo tape by Soul Intent.

The album received mixed critical reviews and was met with derision from within the local hip-hop community, earning Eminem unfavourable accusations of copying other rappers' styles, particularly Nas and AZ. "Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded like Nas and AZ," he admitted. "'Infinite' was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself," he recalls. "It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up".

While it contains some swearing, Infinite is relatively inoffensive compared to the subsequent albums that would make Eminem famous.

In 2003 this album was released, although it seemed legitmate it was most likely pirated. The "European Re-Issue" contains a bonus disc with freestyles and unreleased tracks, no names for these tracks are given on the case