Chanel, who's been rapping since she was 14 and making a career out of it since 2009, has often talked about her musical influences which stared way back when she was teen. In various interviews, the “Time & Space” singer has credited both Tupac Shakur and Lil Wayne as major inspirations, saying that it was Shakur's song "How Do U Want It" that first sparked her passion for rapping.
While she aimed to become "the female Eminem," as Chanel told L.A. Weekly back in 2014, the singer doesn't want to confine herself to a single genre, taking a cue from Gwen Stefani on how to keep her style in constant change.
"It's something I'd love to do. I love all types of music, I'd rather start with hip-hop and then maybe cross over into more pop-rock," Chanel told Trend. "I really aspire to be an artist like that that can basically do anything."
It's also noteworthy that Chanel worked with Lil Wayne at the beginning of her music career, signing with his record label, Young Money Entertainment, in 2012. The artist remembered her mentor on his birthday in 2020, thanking him in a heartfelt Instagram post given below.
"Thank you for believing in me when so many have doubted me!" she wrote in the caption. "You are truly the GOAT and where that term even came from! (Facts) Hip-hop and music period owes so much to you."