I always paid attention to Lil Wayne - close attention. He's my idol. He's still my idol.
Kendrick Lamar is the real deal. He's a real artist, and he's gonna be here for awhile because this guy is seriously talented.
Some people be game-goofy and words don't sound right coming out of their mouthpiece. But whenever E-40 says something it's just solidified.
Biggie is my favorite rapper, for sure. No other artist has impacted me that much.
Leonard Cohen kept his Jew name. He's so cool. It's too bad he died.
I was comparatively late in understanding Bob Dylan's overwhelming importance as a songwriter. Everybody who does my job exists in the shadow of Bob Dylan. There are two categories: Dylan and everybody else. It's as simple as that. And it's going to be that way until he dies.
Definitely I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell, and I think she is a wonderful writer, so she is probably part of me.
The writers that I aspire to, like Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman, they'll tell you that the work gets harder, not easier. And they set that bar for us where we're always striving to do something better than the last time, whether it's the next song or just the next line.
I miss the old Kanye, straight from the 'Go Kanye, Chop up the soul Kanye, set on his goals Kanye, I hate the new Kanye, the bad mood Kanye, The always rude Kanye, spaz in the news Kanye...
Who influenced me the most? I'd have to say Lauryn Hill, I think she influenced me the most.
Drake is a lyrical genius, and he's great with melodies, and Pharrell is an amazing producer and songwriter.
If you think about 2Pac, Biggie, and Nas, all of those guys were teenagers or in their early 20s when they got started. Everybody acts like young people have to be silly and lack perspective. Those guys had incredible perspective, and everything that they said was before 25 years old.
Alanis Morissette - I think she's one of my biggest inspirations.
It's a total big difference between a person that got lyrics and a person that can make hit singles. I'm a person that can make some hit singles. I'm not in no booth trying to be a lyrical genius. I'm preparing to make me some singles, and as I develop as a man, then they'll respect my emcee skills.
Right away I thought I'd been hit by a hand grenade ... her (Joni Mitchells') voice, those words ... she nailed me to the back wall with two-inch spikes... I promptly fell in love with her...
Earl Sweatshirt is very wise.
If I wasn't Bob Dylan, I'd probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.
The great thing about Eminem is, he's just hysterical. You forget, people like Eminem because he is riotously funny. And he's a great actor.
I've always respected what Wayne does, and Wayne, to me is definitely one of the greatest in the game right now.
Bob Dylan - I will listen to any of his songs over and over.
I think Lil Wayne is definitely a dope rapper.
Like, Jay Z has some of the sickest lyrics ever, but I would never buy his CD, just because of my age and because of his age. By the time I turn that old, I ain't gonna be doing what he's doing.
My favorite rappers are Lil Wayne. I like Wayne.
I don't know if people know this about me, but I'm into Billy Joel. I'm a huge fan of his and always have been. He's just a quintessential songwriter of our time. Talk about a storied career - so many classic songs and great albums.
I'm trying to escape the shackles of a pen and a pad. I've sat in sessions with Jay-Z where he doesn't write anything down. He'll come up with the most incredible triple entendre, all in his head - it's amazing.
