Eminem

Three years before Eminem bitch-slapped the hip-hop world with his 1999 breakout album, The Slim Shady LP, the Detroit rapper released his debut, Infinite, as a limited run of only 1000 copies. The long-out-of-print record has since become a rare collector's item -- but now it's available as a free download!

The record was posted to 50 Cent's website yesterday by a user named "Eminem" to hype Tuesday's release of Em's long-awaited comeback record, Relapse (read SPIN's review here). Visit Thisis50 to download Infinite.

"[It's] not available anymore. This rare album is a MUST have for any rap fan," read an accompanying post.

It is. The 12-track record is a lo-fi collection of tracks that has Eminem, born Marshall Mathers, shouting out his Detroit area code (the "313"), praising marijuana, and honing his sadistic rhymes: "There's a joker on the loose from the psychiatric ward / He'll stab you with a sword / Don't be fooled by his charm / He's armed with intent to do bodily harm," he rhymes at breakneck speed over lively, Tribe Called Quest-like beats on "Backstabber."

On another track, "It's Ok," Mathers spits, "One day I plan to be a family man, happily married / Grow so old that I have to be carried… Have at least half a million for my baby girl / But it's too early to start planning this stuff / I'm still struggling to be a man / And it's tough."

The album also features the production and rhymes of his D-12 bandmates Kon Artis, Eye-Kyu, and Proof, whose 2006 shooting dead sent Eminem into a downward spiral of drug addiction.

Infinite is a genuine look at Em in his angst-ridden youth.

What do you think? Have a listen, then tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.