Like many here, I also grew up exposed to a very wide range of music. My family all had broad musical tastes and I absorbed it like a sponge learning to love and appreciate music in general. Everything from classical to country, to 50's, 60's & 70's stuff, everything Motown, soul, blues, southern, classic and hard rock, disco, reggae, gospel, etc. I grew up with hip hop as it evolved starting back in the late 70's and when it first broke out it was one of the first genres that I discovered and explored on my own and with friends my age, so it's a big part of me and one of my main influences. But I'm also influenced by many other genres and find inspiration in most music I listen to. It doesn't matter what it is, I hear a song I like and immediately I'm remixing it in my head, breaking down the elements, picking out samples, getting ideas for new melodies or basslines or percussion. Like Erica Johnson, I also have a love for electronic music and originally started out producing house, acid, techno and other stuff before I tried my hand at hip hop and that music is such an inspiration that I find myself incorporating elements from that and other genres I love into my hip hop tracks. I guess I can say that music in general inspires me.
