Infinite Livez

Born Steven Henry in Bethnal Green, London, England, the former comic book illustrator and Gameboy graphic designer Infinite Livez brings an off-kilter perspective to UK hip-hop through the strange, offbeat stories that populate his 2004 debut album Bush Meat. His official biography notes that the Chelsea Art College graduate and Shadowless crew affiliate likes spending time in museums, once embraced punk, and counts surrealist author Andre Breton among his influences.

Although mammary glands have long been a recurring motif in hip-hop, Bush Meat approached the topic from an unusual angle. In “The Adventures Of The Lactating Man,” the rapper starts lactating so profusely that milk delivery workers lose their livelihoods. The skit “Brown Nosh” introduced Bouncement Queen insisting on a rim job as payment for her contribution, while “Drilla Ape” recounted a man’s infidelity with a primate. “Claati Bros” lampooned Brit Art by describing a private view for a creator who “paints with elephant do-do... very post-modern... a bit smelly though,” a joke Infinite Livez paired with a vow to enter the British Museum armed with a shotgun and retrieve its African artefacts.

Far from reducing these inventions to mere novelty, Infinite Livez supported his surreal rhymes with sleek, imaginative production that justified the computer-game-derived alias. Issued on Big Dada, Bush Meat was immediately praised as one of the year’s most singular hip-hop releases.