Maya Angelou's importance to American culture runs deep. The legendary author, poet, and activist was easily one the best and brightest voices her generation. As influential as she was lauded, Angelou won countless awards throughout her career, and stood tall as a voice for women and for the Black community.
An American icon, Angelou unsurprisingly made a big impact in hip-hop, too. She made Tupac Shakur weep on the set the 1993 film Poetic Justice after expressing how important he is to Black people—he later named his song "Still I Rise" after one her most famous poems. (Nicki Minaj did the same years later.) Common tapped her to appear on his 2011 album The Dreamer/The Believer; Kendrick Lamar did the same for his 2012 masterpiece good kid, m.A.A.d city. Upon her death in 2014, Q-Tip cited Angelou as one his greatest influences.
In 2013, Angelou spoke with TIME about feeling optimistic about the future poetry. “All I have to do is listen to hip-hop or some the rappers,” she said.