I just picked up a lot of classic-rock, melodic influence from my mom, music that she listened to, like 10,000 Maniacs, Led Zeppelin, REO Speedwagon and Yes. She was actually dating a dude who was on tour with Aerosmith during the ‘Walk This Way’ tour who brought me back some of my Adidas T-shirts and [a tape of] ‘Paul Revere.’ Beastie Boys, that was my first taste of hip-hop. I equally love both, classic rock and hip-hop. I love all music, really, and I really use classic rock a lot. I’m heavily influenced by that melodically in my music. I can’t really separate the two. Where I’m from is like ‘Hustle & Flow’ versus ‘8 Mile.’ It’s that really grimy, box-Chevy, dope-boy, working-class music.
