People usually ask me my music influences, and the answer remains that I'm not totally sure.  I realize that my style was shaped and molded by the 1980s from music like Debbie Gibson, Bobbie Brown, and James Taylor.  Also Madonna, James Brown, Color Me Badd, and Vanilla Ice.  Through the 1990s I got into Live, Offspring, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and many hip hop and R&B acts.  The fact remains that I love the beats created by artists like Eminem, DMX, Outkast, Sublime, and Beastie Boys,  I'm not sure who was the true songwriter and producer in all of these cases, but I do know I like how their music makes me feel.  I like the production from songs like "Summertime" by Sublime, "Slippin" by DMX, and the whole Album from Outkast's ATLiens.  Most of these are smooth tracks with hard hitting drums and nice harmonies.  That's pretty much what I do when I am producing, but I always strive to find an original edge.  This could be a sound used in a new way, or a percussion hit played a few octaves higher or lower.  The one thing I am trying to do is find originality.  You should find this while browsing through the beats and instrumentals licensing store.  Something that really hit home was a comment by renouned guitaritst Adrian Blue.  His inspiration comes from technology because of the sound creation and unique sounds.  He doesn't listen to other music that much so it won't seep into his own music.  Music is his own personal world.  Also, Frank Zappa is someone who is working on his own music all of the time, constantly, or else it gets diluted and you start to follow trends.  This is what I am after.  I don't want to follow trends and I don't want my music diluted by others.  I had a base that shaped me and now I can branch off into new creations.  I also don't listen to other music that much; Adrian Blue confirmed the reason why.  And everything made sense.