Who Inspires You Lyrically?

OGBama

Moderator
Who inspires you lyrically? Mine are:

Big L
O.C.
Ed O.G.
Masta Ace
Lord Finesse
Nature
Percee P
AZ
Big Boi
Raekwon
Phonte
Oddisee
Black Thought
Tray Deee
Styles P
3D Na'tee
Rapsody
Rah Digga
Dutch Rebelle
Bun B
Yo-Yo
Lady of Rage
Mia X
Coniyac
Heavy D
CL Smooth
Nas
Large Professor
Prodigy
Rakim
MC Lyte
Sha Rock
Granddaddy IU
Kurupt (early 90s Death Row era)
Ice Cube (Death Certificate-era)
 
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My influences are Lupe Fiasco, Wale(with bending words), Kid Cudi(feeling/voice), Kanye(musically), Ghostface/Big Pun/Nas(later on).
 
My go-to lyricists are Jay-Z, Jadakiss, Eminem and Jeezy (when he ready to go at it (ie; Thug Motivation 101)) - although, I seek inspiration from everywhere.. The key for me is, the flow has to be well-rounded (cadence, delivery, double entendres..) - but, the artist could spit about anything (Eminem/Rock Bottom, Jay-Z/Like That)..
 
Prince EA on Youtube by far. BY FAR. Make Smart Cool is the motto.

Following him, I would say Wax on Youtube. He raps, sings, does everything.

Then Benjamin Booker (my favorite track from him is Believe).

I've begun making youtube music videos myself, but with no lyrics, just good instrumentals
 
Singers like Chris Cornell from Soundgarden/Audioslave, Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots, Lorde, LAdy Gaga, Aaliyah, Bjork, the lead singer of Tool had some good vocal performances but the lyrics were terrible , i'd pick a Top 3

Aaliyah, Chris Cornell, and Lorde

Simply because the wisdom of their songs inspire my soul to make more music, and wrap it in a package so that it can be sung over... I'm very eccentric and my music has been called weird enough times, but they are from England and other parts of Europe... If you never heard Dr. Dre's "Chronic" Album and subsequent albums, you really wouldn't get why i made my tunes very funky and why they have a vibe sometimes other than HipHop, more like fast trannce, but have a HipHop kit beat, idk, i like what i do, made 14 tracks in 8 months, learning the keyboard (piano) all over again, though i have extensive knowledge of it from my past experiences, learning arrangement and composition to allow for Intro-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus- etc, and Outro. Then i learned some mastering techniquesinvolving compression,sometimes it works, somewitimes i got plain with and EQ on any channels that need them and use the mixer rack to adjust levels.

Thanks for listening, and OGBama, i hooked up a pair of Logitech Z504 Front-Left, Front-Right and Center, with a sub so i can hear clearly the mids and high with the center being pushed back but close enough to hear, and separation in the right and left ;) .
 
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As far as just lyrics go I can only think of a number of them off the top of my head (I'm sure there are more if I really sat and thought about it). Everyone inspires me for different reasons but here goes a short list.

Tupac
Rakim
Big L
Royce
Joe Budden
Crooked I
King Los

It isn't so much that I look to these artists for inspiration but they are the artists that can spark inspiration when I listen to their music and make me want to go write something.
 
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