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There aren’t many albums that Raekwon can say he holds in high regard, but there are some very dear to his heart, and one is “a special, special album to” him. As a New York native who grew up in the 1980s, he arguably saw the release of the culture’s most crucial albums.

With collectives such as Public Enemy and the Juice Crew dominating the charts and the establishment of iconic record labels such as Cold Chillin’ Records and Def Jam, Raekwon would have witnessed some of the most integral moments in hip-hop firsthand.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the Wu-Tang Clan star spoke about some of the projects that influenced him growing up and the vast impact some of the albums released in that decade had on him as an individual.

Concerning honourable shoutouts, Raekwon mentioned some of New York’s most renowned figures from the era, including Big Daddy Kane, Chuck D, Kool G Rap and LL Cool J. However, none of these artists officially appeared on his list of the ten best rap albums.

Although the Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… creator didn’t include the most noticeable names on his own list, that doesn’t mean he totally omitted his love of 1980s New York hip-hop. In fact, he made sure to put it front and centre but named two acts that profoundly shaped him as a person.

One album he cited as critical to the beginnings of his career was Boogie Down Productions’ debut project, Criminal Minded. Comprised of Scott La Rock and KRS-One, BDP empowered Raekwon as a kid from the streets of the inner city with its talk of hustle, graft, and survival.

Detailing why the 1987 album is so important to him personally, Raekwon told Rolling Stone, “KRS-One was a lyrical professor and a street talker. Songs like ‘South Bronx’ really meant a lot to us coming up in the game — and I’m talking about the street game, the hustle factor. It made me want to get up and enjoy hip-hop even more!”

The Supreme Clientele musician recalled that the album’s release coincided with him and his friends breaking out of Staten Island and exploring their hometown a bit more. BDP’s iconic ‘Bridge Wars’ included references to the Bronx and Queensbridge, prompting Raekwon and his pals to learn about and embrace the areas that were front and centre of hip-hop during the 1980s.

Recounting this, Raekwon told the publication, “This is when I started to hang out with my dudes, and we would go to other people’s cities and shit. ‘Yo, let’s go uptown. Yo, let’s go to the Bronx. Yo, let’s go to Queens.'”

He added, “I remember going to 42nd Street; we would have the radio with us, and KRS’ shit would be blasting through the joint: ‘South Bronx, South, South Bronx. South Bronx.’ For us, being from Staten Island, it made us feel like we were from South Bronx, too.”

Although Criminal Minded had a profound effect on Raekwon growing up, it wasn’t the most important album to him. As he looked back on his adolescence, he remembered one project that had such a seismic impact on the culture that it blew him away.

The body of work that took Raekwon by surprise was Eric B & Rakim’s 1987 debut Paid In Full. Explaining how much he cherishes the project, the Immobilarity artist asserted, “This is a special, special album to me. When Rakim first came out, I was about 15 years old. I saw him on the cover. He had outfits on there; they had money in their hand, jewellery. At that time, that was the way.”

Remembering his initial reaction to the singles, he added, “The shit he was saying was just amazing. ‘Thinking of a master plan, ’cause ain’t nothing but sweat inside my hand.’ Everything he was saying, I felt like I was living it, I was going through it. Records like ‘Eric B. for President,’ oh my god. When I first heard that fucking track!!!”

According to Raekwon, he first heard the tracks on ‘Rap Attack’, the WBLS radio show featuring DJs Red Alert, Mr. Magic, and Marley Marl. It is revered as the first hip-hop radio show of all time and was the lifeblood of New York rap during the ’80s.

It is unsurprising that Rakim and KRS-One top Raekwon’s list. As two of the most skilled lyricists of the 1980s, they profoundly changed the way MCs rhymed and set a precedent for other musicians.