November 12 marks two records made at very different points in their artists’ careers. In 1996, Eminem was still trying to get his music beyond Detroit with Infinite. Six years later, Missy Elliott and Timbaland used Under Construction to bring the sounds of earlier hip-hop records back onto pop radio.

1996 – Eminem releases Infinite

Eminem’s first album came out through the independent Web Entertainment label on November 12, 1996. The Bass Brothers helped get cassettes and vinyl into circulation around Detroit. The album found some local radio support, but its distribution gave it little chance of reaching a wider audience.

“Never 2 Far” opens with a conversation about coming up short for bus fare. That detail tells you what’s at stake before the first verse gets going. On the title track, the dense internal rhymes are already in place, but the delivery is measured. The record captures a Detroit MC learning how to make his technical ability carry a song. The Bass Brothers revisited the title track in 2016, building a new instrumental around the original vocal.

El País on the making and local release of Infinite

2002 – Missy Elliott releases Under Construction

Missy Elliott’s fourth studio album arrived November 12, 2002. “Work It” brings the feel of a DJ working a break into a pop single. The beat leaves room for Elliott to switch cadence, interrupt herself and turn a reversed vocal into the part listeners remember first.

Missy Elliott performing at Wireless Festival in 2010 — Missy Elliott at Wireless Festival in 2010. Photo by joanneconlon, CC BY 2.0.

“Gossip Folks,” with Ludacris, takes a different route. The chatter around Elliott becomes part of the record’s rhythm, and she uses it as material for a joke at the expense of the rumor mill. That playfulness makes the album’s interest in earlier rap feel active. The old sounds give Elliott and Timbaland more ways to build hooks and surprise the listener.

Elektra’s album listing and listening preview

Explore the Today in Rap History calendar, revisit Missy Elliott’s July 15 entry or read about Eminem’s The Eminem Show.

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