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J Cole has inspired me to start making music, being a rapper with a focus on storytelling and lyricism through intricate rhyme schemes is something I deem as attainable because he is the example. His complete vulnerability when writing spliced with his soulful production makes allows me to feel immersed into his perspective and sound.

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Kanye West has sparked the inspiration for me to master production. Contrasting to J Cole, Ye was a producer turned artist with the complete knowledge of both. Kanye's use of sample chops and choirs have always stood out to me and is something I admire to replicate. As well as his constant eagerness to experiment in hopes of making what he enjoys!

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J Cole speaks very openly about his influence from Eminem and the impact he had on Cole's music. J Cole took inspiration to Eminem's wordplay, rhythm, cadence and raw rap. "I'm such a huge Eminem fan. Especially his first three albums, I was like all the way in. I'm still all the way in cause he's still amazing... My first song, I ever made, was literally just sounding like Eminem and Nas." (Kendrick Lamar and J Cole talk about Eminem (2014 YouTube)

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J Cole frequently refers to Tupac as his favourite rapper, the rapper that most influenced his sound and began his journey into artistry. “My favourite rapper was Pac,” he explained. “He was my favourite rapper before I even started rapping. I remember my stepdad coming home with that first Pac album. With ‘Brenda’s Got A Baby.’ It was '2Pacalypse Now'. I was too young to know what he was talking about, but it connected. It’s just truth. So, even as a seven-year-old kid, an eight-year-old kid, I could hear Pac’s early albums and feel the truth.” (J Cole on Lobel 2014 Youtube)

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Nas was a rapper that J Cole heavy idolised, growing up he would post Nas' raps on his wall to study his technique, rhyme schemes, and flow. J Cole also released a track on the Born Sinner album named 'Let Nas Down' saying "Long live your idols may they never be your rivals, Pac was like Jesus, Nas wrote the bible." This portrays the respect Cole has for his influence. Nas would later respond with a song called "Made Nas Proud" to acknowledge Cole.

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Jay Z saw the potential in Kanye and assisted in starting his career. With Ye being a producer for 'Roc-a-Fella' Records and part of the production in "Blueprint", Jay Z mentored him from there on out. Kanye would always seek his advice whether it was musically related or about any aspect of life “Any time I’m around him , I just try to ask him as many questions as possible, like how did you get all that money?These are my role models. I’m just a genius-in-training"

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Kanye's transition from a producer to an artist was assisted and influenced by Talib Kweli. Talib would let him record at his studio in exchange for Kanye's production for his joint album with Mos Def 'Black Star'. “Kweli and Mos Def took me in when nobody else would. They were like ‘we like you,’” Ye said. He can also be heard saying, “Kweli taught me the most about being an artist. More than anybody.”

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Kanye took inspiration to TCQ's unique sampling style and implemented that style to be his own. "A Tribe Called Quest is one of my biggest inspirations. When I felt like I was at my highest level was when I was closest to a Tribe record. "Midnight Marauders, Electric Relaxation, Low End Theory, a lot of the melodies and the type of chords they would sample was what I was going for when I did The College Dropout." (Sway In The Morning November 2013)