Yo. I've been making beats since Summer of '06. Hangin' in B-town Vermont doing college stuff. Producing's been more of a hobby for me. I do this for fun, so it's all good.
if you're a twitter fondler there http://twitter.com/Lerrix
Well hip-hop wise I'd have to say that J Dilla, Madlib, 9th Wonder, Premier, Pete Rock, MF DOOM, and RZA are my main influences production-wise.
Then if we go oldskool I'd say The Meters, David Axelrod, Galt MacDermot, Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield are up there on my favorites. There's way too many to choose from though.
Ableton Live and a computer keyboard.