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The sum is Infinite   In a city infamous for its' gangsters, since the 1800s up until present day Chicago, rapper Infinito 2017 shows that Chicago's rappers aren't all about the trapping and capping, but they can bring some insightful lyrical substance to the proverbial table. Working hard to set himself apart from other artists, Infinito still runs his career on the old code of hip hop, staying true to his morality and trying as much as possible to spit the positives in a way that still appeals to his listeners. The RailRoad recently caught up with Infinito 2017 to pick his brain on a few topics. Dialogue between Infinitio 2017 and the RailRoad Magazine:   The RailRoad: What was the spark that started you to get involved in music?

Infinito 2017: Well it was several things. My upbringing! My mother was into soul music, collecting soul albums. Umm...My uncle! "The nephew of Frank", that's were the name came from. Frank is short for Franklin. He was a straight dusties, stepper dude. Just plain stuff like that is what got me interested in music. My grandmother just had that straight down-home gospel music. That southern Baptist and soul music upbringing is what inspired me to make music. Just to be in that type of house hold.   The RailRoad: How old where you when you realized that making music is what you really aspired to do? Infinito 2017: I believe I was 11 or 12. We lived in Dixmoor, Illinois at the time and it was just boring, this was back in '87 or '88. I wasn't out their battle rapping. I had the chance to start off recording. That was the first thing I did, was record music. It was me and my cousin that passed away in '94, D.R...., D.R. Franklin. When we were little it was me and him and we got it from our older cousin Fat Nice, who was a MC at the time. So we got to record off his equipment or off somebody else's boom box {laughter}.   The RailRoad: How do you usually go about the production of your tracks? Are you part of the trend now, are you a rapper slash producer? Infinito 2017: Well from '99 to 2002 I had to make beats for myself, because one of my producers wasn't available to me. He had just had his first son. He had his wife and all that, so to me he had fell off. I mean he could take the joke. I use to tell him "yeah man, you fell off!" {laughter}. So I started off getting samples and just looping them, just straight looping them {laughter}. Then I started to get other producers after that, working with a producer from the label Molemen and a few others. And I always acknowledge my producers, because I feel without them I wouldn't have songs. So yeah I have produced and I'm always getting beats from producers, even to this day.   The RailRoad: So what would you say your music is along the lines of, hip hop genre wise? Infinito 2017: It would be more knowledgeable rap. I'm from the golden era of making hip hop. I'm from the true school, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Run DMC, and KRS-1 era of hip hop; That Common Sense early '90s feel is what I was a part of. It ain't to many people coming out now that I really give credit to. Up until 2004 or 05 there was some pretty decent people coming out, but now we have to search for them. That's my era; I'm a golden era, true school, hip hopper {laughter}!   The RailRoad: If you could do it all over again. Starting your career over, fresh, would there be anything that you would do differently than you did the first time around? Infinito 2017: Business! I would've been more business orientated. You can look at some dudes and say man he lame or his raps are whack and only doing this for the money, but you almost have to respect that mentality. You got these record execs and their whole mentality is what they can gain from an artist. You must have some sort of inkling of how the industry works without losing who you are in your heart. It's our job to take what we've learned when getting success in the business, to take what we've learned and use that to make sure that the avenues for a new artist is that much easier for them.   The RailRoad: Are you a believer in the message some in Chicago's hip hop scene is getting across to people, in that Chicago's underground scene is becoming easier to break through due to the recent success of artists like Kanye West, Twista, Common, and a few others? Infinito 2017: {laughter} I'm so biased on what I listen to. I don't really listen to a couple of the artists you just said. I still want to see some of those guys you'll never hear about, that are equally as good, be mentioned in the same breath with the earlier guys you'd mentioned, like Kanye West. I want to see it become real pure and expose those who really be under the service like WHPK Radio, Dr. Waxx, Gramophone, places where people put their albums when they just start to get going...places like that. Those are the type of people that helped dig the foundation for the way the underground is. The only person I know out there that can be on T.V. and then come home and be cool with the people in the streets, you may not know this, but ....Rhymefest! He's a real cool dude.   The RailRoad: If you had the chance to be a mentor to an artist with good potential what would be your key advice for him/her? Infinito 2017: Refine your skills! Whatever it is you're doing, if it's making a beat or rhyming, get that down packed. Understand how this association works (association being the music industry), understand numbers and contracts and things like that. Man, be intelligent! Try to help somebody else make it. But you can do nothing out here if you dumb {laughter}!