Jay-Z Quotes

I grew in the inner city, listening to Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, James Brown, The Commodores - lots of soul music.

I grew up listening to oldies, like Motown. That's from my mom.

I still love listening to the old stuff - Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, you know. I stick to the old school stuff, but I love Mark Ronson. I love John Legend.

I'm definitely inspired by Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, James Brown, Lauryn Hill.

Stevie Wonder's records introduced me to '70s soul when I was 12 or 13.

My dad liked a lot of Motown, but I didn't listen to it until my teenage years.

When I think of musical geniuses, I think of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and Prince. That's who comes to mind.

There's no place in the world you can go and not hear rock-and-roll, from Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder to Phil Collins.

My father would play Stevie Wonder in the car, but that never sunk in.

Stevie Wonder's 'Songs in the Key of Life' was on constant shuffle throughout my childhood. I remember my dad playing some stellar Max Roach albums as well.

I honed in on a great time, the Motown era, the '60s and '70s. That type of music has always been a staple in my life.

My parents listened to a lot of music when I was really little. They used to listen to people like Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder and I used to be really into that.

My pops and my mom started playing Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers and all these people, but at the same time, they always had Snoop on right behind it in the same mix.

Absolutely, I grew up listening to soul music. People like Stevie, Aretha, Ray Charles, Michael and Prince. My parents' record collection was all I had when I was a little kid. If it wasn't that, it was something else in their collection.

Early inspirations included Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie... Those were the people I actually wound up studying just to hone my craft.

Growing up, I was surrounded by music by the Stones, Carole King, and the Beach Boys. I didn't know who Michael Jackson was till I was about 13.

My mum would play Stevie Wonder around the house, and I remember just loving the songs and feeling so blown away by how much was going on.

My introduction to Motown was through The Jackson Five and Michael Jackson. Michael's been my greatest creative inspiration, so that's how I really became familiar with Motown as a whole, and as I got older, I learned far more about the other groups.

My father loved music. He loved Motown and R&B, and my mother loved Journey and Fleetwood Mac, so they were always listening to it and playing it.

I get a lot of my inspiration from the Jackson 5 and Luther Vandross.

I grew up listening to the greats of the '80s and, thanks to my parents, the '70s - the Doobie Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Luther Vandross, Lionel Richie.

I naturally gravitated first to R&B and pop: Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle.

I don't know exactly what genre to put it in, I just know that I grew up listening to a lot of soul music - Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Whitney Houston. I was inspired by all these great big voices, and I try to do music that's timeless.

I was inspired by James Brown, Michael Jackson and Prince.

I can't ignore what I grew up listening to. My parents used to listen to Michael Jackson non-stop. They used to listen to Luther Vandross, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder.