Music:
i like almost all music that's recorded except things that are "avant-garde." the definition of avant-garde is, of course, something which could be debated for days.
electronic bleeps: xela, lusine, squarepusher, aphex twin, boards of canada, tadd mullinix, arovane, autechre, d'arcangelo, cim, all of scott herren's projects, four tet, kettel, lackluster, most anything off m3rck , manual, plaid, etc. check out edIT for some crazy glitch from LA.
inna reggae stylee: scientist, linval thompson, niney the observer, joe gibbs, pablo moses, max romeo, black uhuru, king tubby, prince jammy, prince far i, jah thomas, barry brown, barrington levy, augustus pablo, hugh mundell, and most any other reggae recorded after the ska phase but before the 1980s polluted this genre with terrible usage of drum machines. wonderful reggae website here .
hiphoppery: alias, jel, common, blockhead, cannibal ox, deltron 3030, dj krush, dj shadow, madlib, jay dee, medaphoar, mf doom, nas, jay z, zion i, de la soul, common, organized konfusion, pete rock, cl smooth, and others. sample diggers should know about this .
random other styles: afrobeat, salsa, baile, bhangra, some drum'n'bass is always good, classic acoustic blues, ragga jungle and dancehall, funk, soul, jazz, and really most anything else that isn't inaudible static. music without words is often preferred.
Heroes:
martin luther king, mahatma gandhi, albert einstein, benjamin franklin, ludwig boltzmann, and any other great mind all the way back to aristotle and before. those that observe social injustices and dedicate themselves to change (e.g. cesar chavez, marcus garvey, martin luther).
