aesop rock, def jux records, pink floyd, jefferson airplane, sublime, peter tosh, hendrix, primus, wes montgomery, rakim, weather report, pharcyde, stones throw records, janis joplin, krs one, zepplin, marley, john coltrane, miles davis and of course kool herc the godfather of hip hop................Also I wanna add that you wont "fully" be able to appreciate my music unless your stones, drunk, twisted or buzzen off of some kind of substance which is how i made almost all my songs, all my friends say it helps them understand the style better, just a thought, I myself still think it sounds good enough sober, but for added intensity try it out.