Of course there are decent, amazing, hugely talented hip hop artists out there. Take a trip through the streets of London, Copenhagen, or Berlin during the summer when all sorts of artists start performing in the streets and any producer with common sense can see the untapped potential is so vibrant. The UK in particular is BOOMING in terms of artistic expression in hip hop.
I actually see hip hop evolving; yes i said it. Let me side step for a second.
There is so much cluttered music on the radios that comes from "who knows who", and throwing some lyrics into a hit machine that churns out what the general public wants. People as individuals are smart. People in groups... Well you get the point.
So back on track to how i see hip hop evolving. For a moment think of Kanye West. Some people hate him, some people love him. But it is almost undeniable that the man is taking some very different approaches from the medium when it comes to lyrics, and beats.
Whether you hate his music or not is not my point, hip hop is expression of self; in poetry, hate, love and everything in between much like any genre of music. It evolves when suppression of artistic skill ceases. Just because there are horrible examples (and good) on the radio doesn't mean hip hop has died, it means mainstream hip hop has been turned into a commercial commodity.
I personally like (and i believe this is what the post asked for) Mos Def, Common, Talib Kwali, Kanye West (as a producer) The Roots ... i can list many, but these are pretty well known.
