Genius/GZA – Liquid Swords
I was listening to Wu-Tang in elementary school, I've definitely been into them for a long time – Wu-Tang somehow infiltrated. It was weird back then and puzzled a lot of people. I used to go to HMV and buy CDs, and I often didn't know anything about the music prior. I got Wu-Tang Forever first, and then I traced the web of Wu-Tang out from there to 36 Chambers and all the solo stuff. I really love almost all of it, but Liquid Swords is just so good and so smart. GZA's just such a great lyricist. The imagery, the production, the rhymes – it's just different. I still really love it – I saw him play at Moogfest.

I always particularly loved how Liquid Swords is a relatively brief 50 minutes compared to the usual 60-80 minutes for the genre.

It's just strong from beginning to end, and there's nothing weak at any point on that record. It's good, and then it's over: how often do you get that?