In addition to the wall of sound, I really got into how Brian recorded and pieced together separately recorded sequences of music. Or, having a sequence of "walls" placed one after another to make a song. "Good Vibrations" is the most popular example of this, as is the entire "Smile" album.

When I was on my MPC, a had an epiphany that he was basically making all these .seq loops and putting them into "song mode". That's how I connected his work to hip hop--basically every MPC user is incorporating his methods.

Specific producers, yeah Bomb Squad, DJ Shadow, Dangermouse, etc. Oh and The Avalanches (can't wait for the new album!!!).

EDIT: just wants to re-emphasize The Avalanches. Their stuff is DENSE.

Personally, I'm obsessed with making dense wall-of-sound beats. I LOVE that shit. Nothing feels better than finding like 20+ samples that work together. I start sparse and build to a climax.

Here's a couple examples from me...

https://chrisp.bandcamp.com/track/4-afeni-and-pac-phone-2-your-heartz

https://chrisp.bandcamp.com/track/year-of-the-horse