I never listened to rap until I heard my cousin bumpin' Bone Thugs N Harmony... so they pretty much opened me up to rap. And I still to this day don't care for a lot of rap... I'm more of a rocker than anything.
I used to get made fun of by all my friends cuz I'd always be bumpin' oldies... like The Temptations, Diana Ross and The Supremes, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones.... shit like that. All of my friends were like, "I can't believe you actually listen to this stuff and know the words to these songs." I used to get laughed at on the daily... ha. That's what I grew up with though.
Artists that stand out to me that have broadened my musical horizons are artists such as... Jason Becker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Marty Friedman, Billy Sheehan (bass player), Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. I never respected guitar players more than these guys, they are simply amazing! They opened me up to classical music, something I never ever thought I'd get into. The technicality of their music is just insane. The shit they do, is not easy and takes years on top of years to master. I honestly can sit and watch these guys play for hours and hours in aw.
But yeah... I think listening to oldies throughout my whole life opened me up to a wide variety of music. The blues and Jazz too...
Rap has always come in last place to my musical likings. To me, it takes a lot more "talent" to play like Becker, Friedman, Vai or Malmsteen than to rap over some beat. These mfkrs have spent their whole lives mastering the guitar, playing chords that are hard as fuck (you should see some of the reaches on these chords, its nuts)... something you'll never see a rapper do. That's just my opinion though... I remember getting into it on the Sista side with some people about talent with rap vs rock. I really don't feel like goin' there again.