Erykah expanded my music palette to Jazz, rap, funk, electronica and Neon Soul "The Queen of Neon-Soul". She introduced me to the world of Jazz mainly and I fell in love! I love the fact that she is so diverse in her music and isn't afraid of expressing her style, spirituality, culturally and religiously in her music. She has found ways to weave her African heritage into her sound and cultivate a new domain for expression, she created a new era of freedom of expression. I also found ways to express my individual fashion style through her, she doesn't conform or fit into one box. Fashion has always coincided with music for Erykah. Noted by Jasmin Pirovic in an interview with Erykah "I’ve always enjoyed dressing my head, whether it’s head wraps, hats, or wigs, I’m not sure why, I think that’s just where my mojo lives.”

Her musical influence has been monumental, shaping the landscape of pop and rock music. She became a well-known songwriter, with a hit like "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman", defining the sound of the 1960's. Her 1971 Album "Tapestry" marked a significant point in Carol's Career, showing her talents as a solo artist, but also showing women that they could excel as both performers and songwriters. Carol's Influence on women's songwriting is profound, as one of the few female songwriters in a male-dominated music industry. Carol has voiced strong support for the National Organisation for Women. She has emphasised the importance of gender equality and women's empowerment.

Billie was an inspiration to so many in her community in Philadelphia, her song "Strange Fruits" sparked an undying truth that ricocheted through the black community and the world, making it the beginning of the civil rights war. Billy lived an undeniably chaotic childhood and life, as a young girl Billy loved Louise Armstrong and Blues singer Bessie Smith.

Tom Vitale noted "She speaks to your heart. She catches your ear. She reaches your mind, and she does this with an emotional power that, of course, is genius and is beyond words."

To this day, she has captured attention with her incredible voice, through generations she has inspired.

Aretha's Influencers were mainly Gospel soul singers like Clara Ward, she helped influence Aretha.

Aretha was admired after she covered the famous Otis Redding song "Respect" in 1967, it became an anthem operating on personal, sexual and racial levels.

Elwood Watson noted that Respect laid out a set of demands about how a woman should treat the man in her life in exchange for the resources he provided. By recording the song as a woman, without changing the perspective, Franklin produced a version that became both a feminist and civil rights anthem, placing the spotlight not only on a woman demanding respect but also on a woman as the primary provider.

Aretha withstood her feminist sensibilities in a manner that produced real, concrete results. Unlike some artists of colour who try to walk a middle line to not offend white people, she comfortably stood in her authentic blackness in both her music and activism.

In 2015 Franklin gifted Carol by singing “Natural Woman” when she was being celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors.