When you listen to Kamaiyah, it doesn’t take long to hear the influence Hip-Hop had on her growing up. With a sound reminiscent of the early days of the Bay and a mid tempo flow that harkens back to the rise of Gangsta Rap, the 31-year-old spitter is a clear product of the culture. During a recent taping of Red Bull’s new series, “Rap IQ,” the Oakland-bred spitter spoke on some of the artists and albums that shaped her life and sound and spoke specifically about one album that still influences her to this day. 

“One of my favorites, I know she’s not considered an MC, but Erykah Badu cause she just helped me so much through life and [‘Baduizm] was timeless,” Kamaiyah told Rock The Bells in an exclusive conversation. “Everybody reveres [The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill] but when you do the comparison, production wise, etcetera, I feel like Badu’s album stood the test of time.”

According to the “Swing My Way” MC, Badu’s debut holds up better than the Lauryn Hill’s. “I can listen to [Baduizm] straight through and it still feels relevant to me today,” noted Kamaiyah. “Lauryn’s it’s kinda like the production is outdated and it’s just the radio singles that still resonate but that’s just my personal opinion. I love Badu.” 

As for the first album that made her fall in love with Hip-Hop, Kamaiyah gravitated toward the West Coast sound of an album that it turns out, was not actually from the West Coast.

“It was a Da Brat ‘Funkdafied’ album that I stole from my granny. That’s the first album that I vividly remember physically having that I knew,” she said. “Culturally I feel like Jermaine [Dupri] orchestrated that album to sound like she was from the West Coast and she dressed like it. So maybe that’s why I gravitated towards it. Cause she was wearing flannels and shit and the album sonically sounded like a Dr. Dre album so it just resonated with me."

Ask nearly any artist that hails from the Bay about E-40, and they will almost all acknowledge his influence on the region’s distinct sound. But to Kamaiyah, his effect on the way Hip-Hop does business is just as timeless. “E-40 is imperative to what the culture is going through right now because I feel like he laid the blueprint to what a lot of artists think they started,” noted Kamaiyah. “All these artists are like ‘I’m independent,' not realizing that he orchestrated that game. Him and Too Short single handedly taught the people from the South how to go get these big deals based on the numbers they were doing out of their trunks.”

She continued: “So you got all these new guys who are doing all this independency not even realizing the reason there even is this thing is because people before you set the foundation in the Bay. I feel like that’s the reason the Bay gets a lot of slack because corporations don’t like you to go above them and kick their ass essentially. E-40 taught people how to essentially negotiate their worth. There would be no No Limit, no Cash Money if they never figured out ‘okay if I do this independently, there’s a threshold. If I sell 100,000, anything after that we split as partners. It’s this thing that’s been created based on E-40’s blueprint. Then I love the fact that he owns all his music, you don’t see much drama surrounding him and he’s been married to the same person for a long time. Who doesn’t want that life?”

Catch the full episode of Red Bull's Rap IQ featuring Kamaiyah and Flau’jae above.