10. Infinite
A choice cut from Eminem's 1996 debut of the same name, Infinite dropped before Marshall Mathers had been eaten up by his Slim Shady persona, and was fresh from sparring on rap battles in Detroit. The key elements of his later works were all present- an intricate rhyming pattern within the flow, a dexterity with the lyrics that betrayed the fact that the young Marshall used to leaf through a dictionary to improve his vocabulary- but there is a freshness and almost innocence here that is far removed from what would follow. The lyrical concept here is a familiar one within Eminem's work- self congratulation on an almost pathological level- but on Infinite he frames it not in beefs with other rappers, or headline-grabbing controversy, but by paying tribute to key themes of science, such as infinity. Dare I say it, but there's almost a naïve charm to Em on this track. Within a few years, Mathers would drop The Slim Shady LP, and the production values on his records would rise as his star exploded. Look back on this arguably under-produced, but supremely interesting track as a hint of what greatness was to follow.