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A Tribe Called Quest played a huge role in Kanye West’s artistry as seen in his “warm, soulful, a bit nostalgic, often irresistibly catchy” production which “strongly echo the work of mid-1990s hip-hop legends like A Tribe Called Quest”. West has also “named Tribe as his favorite rap group ever.” (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008)

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Michael Jackson was Kanye West’s “hero” and played a very important influence in Kanye West’s artistry (Fitzpatrick, 2013). West even said that Jackson “helped break down race boundaries during the early stage of his career, leading to artists such as himself being able to be more creative today”. (Eames, 2013)

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Wu-Tang Clan played a big role in Kanye West’s artistry as seen in his sample heavy boom-bap production. The RZA’s production for the Wu-Tang Clan’s discography “also incorporated ample sampling from classic records” (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008) and Kanye himself said he was inspired by the “Wu-Tang Clan … who pushed boundaries and, in his words, “actually sold records” too”. (Fitzpatrick, 2013)

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Jack Johnson was also a huge influence in Dominic Fike’s music as stated on Complex: “By ten years old, he said, he’d acquired a guitar and learned to play it. He loved Jack Johnson and Blink-182.” Even his hit song “3 Nights” shows the Jack Johnson influence in his musical style or as Complex states “bouncy guitar chords has Jack Johnson’s influence baked into their genetic code.” (Tasbeeh, 2019)

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Blink-182 seem to have influenced Dominic Fike’s rocky and Californian style as stated in The New Yorker: “he listened to a distinctly Californian set of pop-punk and beachy alt-rock acts (Blink-182, Jack Johnson, the Red Hot Chili Peppers)”(Battan, 2019). His mixtape, “Don’t Forget About Me, Demos” shows how rock and Blink-182 were key ingredients in his rap-rock-pop style.

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The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are one of Dominic Fike’s key influences and his LA Times interview says he “learned to play guitar by watching YouTube (and) one of his key influences was the Red Hot Chili Peppers”. In the interview he also says his “most authentic songs” revolve around his “relationship with the guitar”. (Wood, 2023)

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Tupac Shakur was J. Cole's favourite rapper even before Cole started rapping and making music. Cole says "as a seven-year-old kid, an eight-year-old kid, I could hear Pac’s early albums and feel the truth"(Taysom, 2021). The subject matters in a lot of Tupac's music has evidently influenced "the truth" Cole talks about in his music.

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Eminem, just like Nas, was a huge influence on J. Cole's rap sound. In an interview, Cole says: "I’m such a huge Eminem fan...My first song, I ever made, was literally just sounding like Eminem and Nas...eventually you become who you are from others’ influences and Eminem was a main ingredient". (Phillips, 2018)

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Nas was one of J. Cole's biggest influences and he even says in an interview that starting off, he imitated Nas and his music to become who he is today (Phillips, 2018). Listening to J. Coles boom-bap influenced flows and rhymes, it is evident how Nas' work built the foundation for J. Cole and his music.

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Dominic Fike is a more newer influence as bits and pieces of his work are projections of the sounds I am trying to move into as a musical creative. His acoustic sounds combined with more digital production is the vision I have had with my music for years but didn’t know how to translate it from my mind to the physical plane.

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Kanye West has played a very huge role in the artist I am today as his work and mentality emphasized the idea of creation being the supreme intention of my work as an artist. His work taught me to not confine myself into specific sounds and pushed me to be my own artist. To create art and music for myself and the purpose of creation instead of just people who want to sing along to something catchy.

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J. Cole influenced my artistry in a big way as his album "2014 Forrest Hills Drive" was the first album I consciously listened to from start to finish. Cole's lyricism and conscious subject matters paved the way for my artistry and taught me to stimulate listeners with my lyrics and stories within songs.