Long before the days of meeting Dr. Dre, Eminem was inspired by the likes of 2Pac and Nas when recording his debut album, Infinite, which arrived exactly 30 years ago on Thursday (Nov. 12).
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Em celebrated the 30th anniversary of his independent release by bringing an EP version of the project to streaming services for the first time, which features six of the LP’s 11 songs: “Infinite,” “It’s O.K.,” “Tonite,” “313,” “Open Mic” and “Never 2 Far.”
Physical editions of Infinite are available at Org Music, with vinyl, CD and cassette options available for pre-order; they will arrive Feb. 26. Jake Bass and Mike “Slim” Wilde provide new mixes and additional production to the project.
Org Music also released a 10-minute documentary celebrating Infinite‘s anniversary, featuring interviews with key players such as the Bass Brothers as well as Eminem, and archival footage from the mid-’90s era surrounding the project. (Watch the short film above.)
“After the Infinite release, we ended up [giving] the rest of the CDs and cassettes that didn’t sell just going to the places we could give ’em out,” Em recalls in the minidoc after selling less than 100 copies in ’96.
Released by WEB Entertainment, the album’s 1996 arrival didn’t bring Eminem the commercial breakthrough and radio success he had originally hoped for. Mark and Jeff of the Bass Brothers took Em under their wing and invested in the Detroit rapper, allowing him and other future members of D12 to record at their Bassmint studio. Mark saw the vision for Eminem, while Jeff just didn’t get it at the time. Infinite‘s production was helmed by Em and Denaun Porter.
However, it all began to change when Em stopped making music seeking validation and dropped his filter to lean into his Slim Shady alter ego heading into 1997’s The Slim Shady EP, which caught the attention of Dr. Dre.
“As soon as I stopped giving a f — k about what I was saying, people started giving a f — k. It was like a reverse effect,” Eminem says in the short film.
The rapper’s mainstream explosion came with The Slim Shady LP in February 1999, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, while the Detroit native picked up his first top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Name Is.”
Stream the Infinite EP below.
