It's a warm April night at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Nearly a hundred students have packed themselves into a bare-bones lecture hall for veteran engineer Young Guru's "Era Of The Engineer" lecture series. Presented by Grammy U, the series finds the three-time Grammy nominee discussing the importance of engineering in the music business and his work with the likes of Jay-Z, T.I. and the Diplomats.

"It's really about highlighting what the engineer does," he said of the series. "The engineers have not really been highlighted throughout the years, so for me, it's really a thing of making sure people understand the role of the engineer."

Before the presentation officially kicked off, XXL sat down with Guru to discuss his five favorite music engineers of all time. From jazz veterans to his hip-hop contemporaries, Guru breaks down who he thinks stand next to himself as the master of the boards. —Sean Ryon (@wallysean)

Tom Dowd
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Tom Dowd

Notable Records: Ray Charles' The Genius of Ray Charles, John Coltrane's Giant Steps, Eric Clapton's Crossroads

"Tom Dowd is definitely somebody that I respect, God bless the dead. He did all the Atlantic Records."

Joe Tarsia
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Joe Tarsia

Notable Records: The Delfonics' La-La Means I Love You, The Spinners' Mighty Love, Teddy Pendergrass' Life is a Song Worth Singing

"I should say Joe Tarja. He did all the Philadelphia International Records."

Bob Clearwater
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Bob Clearmountain

Notable Records: Chic's Risqué, Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, Rolling Stones' Tattoo You

"Bob Clearmountain—I mean, that's covering so much of rock 'n' roll it's ridiculous. From [Bruce Springsteen's] Born in the U.S.A. to just like super classic, classic records."

Maserati
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Tony Maserati

Notable Records: Mary J. Blige's My Life, Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money Mo Problems," Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love

"Tony Maserati—he basically dominated the '90s in terms of the urban sound. He was really heavy in there with Puff on the Mary [J. Blige] records, on the B.I.G. records, but he also did a lot of pop stuff too—Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, just super pop records. He's got a great urban sound."

Duro
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DURO

Notable Records: Beanie Sigel's The Truth, Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," Fabolous' Loso's Way

"Duro kicked it off for my leg of the engineering game—he was the very first one. He worked with pretty much everybody—he did Jay's records before I got there. If you can name it, he did it. From Mary J. Blige to DMX to the LOX to Puffy to whoever you want to name in hip-hop, he was doing it. He was down with DJ Clue…people don't understand, but he did way more on Fabolous' albums than just engineer."

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