1995–1998: First releases

In 1995, he recorded his first official tape, Fuckin’ Backstabber/Soul Intent. In 1996, he released an independent underground album named Infinite.

Eminem recalls: "Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded like Nas and AZ. 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. It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up."

Eminem had done a notable amount of rapping with fellow Detroit MC Royce da 5'9" early in his career.

They referred to themselves as Bad Meets Evil, with Royce playing 'The Bad' and Eminem playing 'The Evil', as Eminem and Royce each clearly state in the song Bad Meets Evil.