Producer Rick Rubin has recalled being amazed by Carlos Santana's musical power in the studio, saying he found it impossible to imagine anyone unmoved by hearing the guitarist play live in the room. The anecdote ties into wider reflections on Santana's genre-blurring style, which he has applied throughout a long career spanning rock, jazz and Latin influences, and which shapes his admiration for other boundary-pushing musicians.

Santana has named Miles Davis as the artist he rates above all others, recalling how conversation among fellow musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams would stop whenever Davis's name came up. He described Davis as a "sacred rascal" and "genius", comparing him to Da Vinci, Stravinsky and Picasso, and said a single note from Davis could convey more than the combined work of "all the geniuses of this planet".