Rakim - It's Been A Long Time (1997)
I heard this on Westwood's show when I was first getting into hip-hop and I didn't even know who Rakim was. (Or Premier, for that matter.) I dunno if this was one of my first introductions to rapping that was so beautifully constructed, all the rhymes interlocking, but I still can semi-rap along with these verses so I must have replayed it quite a few times. That era of Westwood shows was all Big Pun, DMX, Canibus, Bad Boy, Wu Tang, Eminem... THE BLURST OF TIMES.
The other one of that album which I liked even more (and not cos of Rakim, but cos of the beat) was 'Guess Who's Back'