Eminem — Infinite

«Visualizin' the realism of life in actuality, fuck who's the baddest, a person's status depends on salary.» With these two lines, Anthony Cruz opened "Life's a Bitch", one of Illmatic's pearls, and now he has used them again for the title track of his debut studio album, "Doe or Die", released in 1995. At the time, AZ is one the best rapper and one of the most influential, everyone wants to imitate him, with his slow, velvety, clear and unstoppable flow. Among the many kids who have listened to his platinum debut, there's Marshall Mathers, who lives and works in the suburbs of Detroit. He was part of the local group New Jacks under the name of MC Double M, and with the moniker M&M he was part of Soul Intent, a group composed together with other kids with whom he released two unsuccessful EPs in the early years ninety. One of his songs on the latest EP, "One-Handed Juggler", gets enough radio airplay to attract the attention of brothers Mark and Jeff Bass, with whom he signs a deal for their label FBT Productions in 1992.

The boy has his problems with the law, he works in a restaurant on the outskirts of Detroit, living with his partner Kim Scott and their newborn daughter in an apartment in a poor block of the city. In 1995, with Soul Intent, M&M released two songs ("Fuckin Backstabber", featuring Proof, and "Biterphobia") produced by Manix and with DJ Buttlefingers' scratches, in an EP produced for Mashin' Duck Records and released on cassette with a limited edition of a few hundred copies. Subsequently, the group, already devoid of Chaos Kid, is disbanded and Mathers decides to pursue his artistic career alone in search of an unlikely solo success. Under the new and definitive pseudonym of Eminem, Mathers recorded his debut album mainly in 1995 in the Bass Brothers studios, and adjusted it in 1996, releasing it at the end of the same year, in mid-November.

The production is entirely made by his friend Mr. Porter, Eminem reserves for himself a couple of rhythms: the sound carpet is weak overall, due to poor, generic and cheap jazzy boom baps, lo-fi rhythms that are consistent, but too relaxed, and sound like a dull copy of East Coast music, with dark and ambient vibes that don't adequately support the flow and the raw bars spitted by Eminem. The lyricism of this guy, completely unknown to anyone outside of Detroit at the time, is surprisingly superior to most MCs of the time: is clearly inspired metrically by the major East Coast acts, as well as fellow citizen Esham, who paved the way for everyone in the city, the bars are rough, sharp and dusty, however, it's one of his "cleanest" records ever from the lyrical point of view, by detachment, it's his "cleanest" album in this sense, possibly. Most of the time, his lyrics are solid, there are several clever bars and flashes of genius: nevertheless, in the midst of so much braggadocio and battle rap, Eminem fails to fully develop the topics he decides to provide, including many personal themes such as his life, his family, the lack of means and money to survive, the desire for revenge, success and wealth. The MC delivers these lines in a style very similar to AZ's, and the choice is hard to condemn: his rapping is calm, slow, confident, pleasantly smooth and initially fresh, but, on the other side of the coin, when listening, it starts to appear too quiet and too lazy, monotonous to support his own hardcore bars.

As a result, many cuts sound similar, the songs are simple and commercial, in the hope that they can make the airplay of local radio stations. Between rhythms, samples and hooks, there are several obvious commercial errors, however, some songs manage to stand out: the title track is one of the best cuts realized by him in the nineties, boom bap jazzy funky by Denaun Porter, very well done, slow and hard drum, sample of "Represent" by Nas, smooth delivery of Eminem. "It's OK" boasts a good jazzy soulful boom bap and is saved by a good performance from Eye-Kyu, which also lifts the "313" cut, homage to the Mathers district on a typically NY somber boom bap production that has a slightly more hardcore delivery than usual by the rapper, with a nice soul bridge on the hook, thanks to the sample "A Secret Place", by Grover Washington, Jr. "Backstabber" is a reissue of "Fuckin Backstabber", the single that Marshall Mathers had released one year ago under the name M&M: the cut is a dissing to Champtown, a veteran local rapper who was initially a friend of him (Eminem also participated in the video of a single in 1992), then Champtown tried to steal his girlfriend. In the tape, there are great samples, some dry, cold and shiny, dark and dystopian rhythms, several tributes to "Illmatic" and Nas, but also some slips: "Maxine" is the worst cut of the edition, where nothing seems to work as it should, from the light-hearted, bouncy boom bap rhythm, to the uninspired delivery of Eminem, to finish with guests, practically amateurs who add nothing to the track. The remaining choices don't deserve too much consideration, they're average.

Eminem's debut album is short and coherent, 35 minutes divided into 11 songs. It's pretty solid, for being the debut of a 24-year-old guy who practically didn't have the resources to produce a professional studio album: there's a scarcity of topics, flows and production quality, however, this is a competent and accessible effort. Mathers is assisted in the delivery by Denaun Porter and several members of D12, who aren't credited as guests for background vocals. Angela Workman makes a good hook for "Searchin" and there's some discreet DJ Buttlefingers scratches in the first section of the tape. The record is completely different from what the rapper will say, do and be in the future: don't be fooled by the midwestern provenance of the MC and of the producer Porter, this is an East Coast hardcore album with NY musical sound and Brooklyn style rapping at its best, with Queens vibes and state of mind. A white guy who raps like AZ should be the wet dream of every self-respecting wigga, however, at the release, the record is totally ignored by the public and crushed by the few critics who have had the luck to listen to it, and commercially, the tape certainly sells less than a thousand copies, perhaps a few hundred. The rapper himself claims in his autobiography "The Way I Am" (2008), that it has sold about 70 physical copies. They all slept on this cassette, very similar to a mixtape, which Eminem sells directly from the trunk of his car in Detroit, and which is soon forgotten for decades, only being rediscovered and appreciated since the early 2000s.

Highlights: "Infinite", "It's OK", "313", "Backstabber".

Rating: 6/10.