Artist Of The Week - Infinite-1

For fans of the E! network Infinite-1’s voice is a familiar one. Every Friday night he laces The Daily 10 with a new verse about what’s going on in the entertainment world. Infinite-1’s rhymes don’t stop with entertainment news, though. He’s released a number of more traditional mix-CDs including one hosted by former NBA champ John Salley which featured guest spots from Kanye West, Common and NFL superstar Terrell Owens. A Chicago native, Infinite-1, who’s also known as InF-1 in his hometown, is ready to take his career to the next level and today he’s sitting down with me to discuss that career, how he landed his gig with E!, and the qualities he feels equate to being a true success.

Adam Bernard: Many people know you from your weekly appearances on E!'s Daily 10, every Friday when you do the "Rap Up" of the week's events. How did you land that gig and what other opportunities has it afforded you?
Infinite-1: Well I landed the E! gig kind of unexpectedly. A lot of people don't know before E! I was doing rhyme of the week for "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" rappin about sports every week for close to year. That was a real challenge as far as being a writer, coming up with a two minute song each week depicting what goes on in sports, plus producing the track as well. After the "Best Damn" thing went south I got a call from an exec at E! who told me he knew me from “Best Damn,” loved my segment, and wanted to try to get something similar going with E!. At first he said it would be a long shot because no one ever rapped about celebrities before and he didn't know if it would come out corny, but once I threw down a beat and sent him a test take of how it would sound he loved it. And the rest is history! Big up E! network.

Adam Bernard: What are your feelings about rapping about celebrity gossip? Are you ever worried that you might say the wrong thing about the wrong person in charge? I mean, what happens if Lyor Cohen or Jimmy Iovine ends up in the news of the week?
Infinite-1: Man, I wish I could get Jimmy Iovine in my rap cuz I wanna be part of the Interscope machine! Jimmy if you reading this, HOLLA! As far as rhymin about celebrity gossip… it’s kinda fly because it challenges me as an artist and a producer, to come up with something at the drop of a dime each week. It has sharpened me as a writer. Now when I sit down to write my songs things come to me so much easier than before because I’ve broadened my range as a M.C. Also, I’m never worried about saying the wrong thing in a celebrity rap, it's all in good fun, plus E! has a legal process meaning if they think I said something that may have crossed the line we'll make sure to re-lay it so it sounds less offensive. But really it's all in good fun.

Adam Bernard: In reality you rap about a lot more than just celebrity news. What are some of the topics you cover in your music and why is it important for you to get those messages out?
Infinite-1: Yeah man, when it comes to my own music I like to talk about what’s goin on with me, what pops in my city, the struggles I’ve been through, the things I’ve seen. Plus I love to party so you will always hear a good club/radio banga from InF-1 cuz at the end of the day I consider myself to be a mainstream Hip-Hop artist who can put together any kind of song that your major artist today can. I've always been original and when the right label comes along I think they will see me as a breath of fresh air as far as being new strong artist/producer with strong marketing potential

Adam Bernard: Who do you count as your inspirations? How do they inspire you and how do you hope to inspire others with your own music?
Infinite-1: Of course my family, I always wanna make them proud every time I do something new. My homies who have been down with me through the whole struggle, kept me workin when I wanted to leave this rap shit alone. As far as other artists my main inspiration is Big L, one of the most underrated MCs ever. I bump him everyday. I think he inspires me the most because of how passionate he would sound when he delivered a rhyme, plus his lyrics were better than three quarters of these fools out today. His writing was fierce and I model myself the same way, I always come hard with it. Rest In Peace L.

Adam Bernard: At the end of the day we all define success ourselves, so what must happen in order for Infinite-1 to consider himself a success and how are you going about reaching those goals?
Infinite-1: For me to feel 100% successful I would like to reach my goal of being a signed artist on a major label, put out a hit record for the streets, and be able to do something for my city that hasn't been done before and that’s be that one cat who blew in the game who still can walk through the Chi and not have to worry about any drama. I also want to be able to help the next guy behind me who might have that fire, so he doesn’t have to go though what I did. I believe everyone who has talent deserves a chance and I’m an extremely humble cat, so if I ever got in the position to be able to give back I’m all for it!!

For more Infinite-1 check him out at infinite-1.com and myspace.com/inf1. You can also hear his weekly rap-ups every Friday night on E!’s The Daily 10 at 7:30pm EST (check eonline.com for complete listings and times).