wrong! you can't always take the originators as an indicator for the state of hiphop. where are all the young talented MCs? those who should continue where KRS, JJ, PE stopped? i can't see them. i just see all the bad influence "hip hop" is making right now. Like Jeff said, HipHop is around the world, well thats great but all you hear is bull****.
don't tell me that hiphop is alive or whatever or are you happy with the fact that Will doesn't get the respect he deserves? thats just one example, there are many more, just think about it.
Dude, if hip hop exists around the world and exists in the uderground, then it STILL exists. Thats all I'm trying to say. There are talented MCs that still do their thing today no matter what how screwed up the main stream is. J Live, Common, Talib Kweli, Lupe, ect. Just because there aren't as many young talented hip hop artists out today doesn't mean that hip hop is dead. Just like the NBA. There aren't as many great young players today as there were in the past. Just because MJ, Bird, Magic, and Kareem are retired and nobody in the NBA has their skill level, doesn't mean that the NBA is dead. Same thing with hip hop.
Hip Hop IS alive in my opinion, and if you want to go ahead and let main stream destroy hip hop for you, then go ahead. But I choose to not listen to that BS and listen to real hip hop.
Will does get some respect from fans and other hip hop artists. Many videos and articles have been posted on this site with rappers saying they have love for Will. Sure, he might not get the respect that is due, but he still gets some respect.
Also, you are forgetting that hip hop is more then just rap. If rap does indeed died because of commercialized rap, then graffiti/breakdancing/djing aren't neccessarily gone.
These are my opinions on this bro.