From A To B: Music that leads you somewhere

So, last night, I was listening to Nina Simone, like really doing nothing else but actually listening to the Verve Essential or whatever and I realized that I got to her through a pretty labourious route.
Last fall, like November maybe???, I was sent Talib Kweli's Quality. I liked it so much, I went out and bought Black Star, then I bought Mos Def's Black On Both Sides, that forced me into Nina Simone (even though there's a Nina Simone sample on Quality, Mos Def's extolling of rockaroll-ness cinched the deal).

Other paths?