We investigate the coherent and incoherent contributions of the scattering spectrum of strongly driven two-level atoms as a function of the initial preparation of the atomic system. The initial ‘‘phasing’’ of the coherent superposition of the excited and ground states is shown to influence strongly the generation of both harmonics and hyper-Raman lines. In particular, we point out conditions under which harmonic generation can be inhibited at the expense of the hyper-Raman lines. Our numerical findings are supported by approximate analytical evaluation in the dressed state picture.