Books, reading and writing them. My first book, "Hoplite: Torch of Prometheus," is in its final stages of editing before you'll be able to find it on Amazon. Currently I'm tinkering with a project called "Stories from the Streets," which should be complete by the end of Summer of 2007.
A lot of different writers and rappers, and Jesus Christ: the O.G. Demigod before Ap and Celph hit the scene.
Jedi Mind Tricks, old 7LES, Army of the Pharaohs, Apathy, Celph Titled, Demigodz, Geto Boys, Gutterheadz, Lyrical Commission, Majik Most, Jus Allah, Big L, some OS, Pac, Chino XL, Virtuoso, Eminem when he was "infinite," some TSOI, and Necro.
Anything less than epic is most likely bullshit.
Soprano's and Rome baby. It's not T.V. it's H-B fuckin' O.
Saxon Stories, Troy Series (Gemmell), Iliad, Song of Ice and Fire, Of Mice and Men, Picture of Dorian Gray, 1984, Brave New World, Catcher in the Rye, Conversations with Socrates, Importance of Being Earnest, History of My Times, Lord of the Rings (the good parts), and my list grows with each moment.
Bernard Cornwell, David Gemmell, George R. R. Martin, Oscar Wilde, John Steinbeck, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, J.D. Salinger, Victor Davis Hanson, Homer, Thucydides, Socrates, and Xenophon. Fuck Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Miller, Ernest Hemingway, and Harper Lee.