50 Cent, Eminem, Soulja Boy, these are representative of Rap, not Hip-Hop. And today's rap is all about quick money, fadistic sales and marketing strategies, and radioplay at the cost of artistic expression. Hip-hop, as has been reiterated time and again in this discussion, is musical and artistic expression of a high degree which oftimes includes rap, but is not solely bound by that subgenre.
Tupac, on the other hand, was a lyricist, poet, and writer who has published prose and poetry, spoken word tracks, and was an accomplished student of acting and music theory. His words came in complex strains, using everything from onomatopeia to alliteration in rhymes. How many of the crappy Nu Metal groups use any lyrical/poetic devices? None. Emo needs no lyrics, just crying and complaining about being middle class and not having a Porsche over the same 3 chord powerchord guitar riffs that were played out in the 80's, let alone in '07. So don't even begin to compare "metal" with Hip-Hop, it's outrageous.
The funny thing about the "ego" comments in this discussion is that, while some Hip-Hop artists do have a large ego (and if you get into the business side of things, ego is mandatory for success) ALL metal frontmen have a huge ego. That's why so many anti-hip-hop fanatics talk so much $hit because they think they are the end-all, be-all of musical expression. Too bad most metal leads don't write any of the music and even their lyrics are generally ghostwritten by production teams in mainstream music, so they are basically vocal instruments played by someone else and not even in control of their own music. All of this anti-hip-hop boohooing is sad, really, since I've yet to see a single hip-hop artist write an "I hate techno, so you score a 0" or "I hate metal, so you get a 0" review. But the opposite does not hold true.
Again, I'll reiterate and uphold that if you hate hip-hop, stay out of the hip-hop section. It's a simple concept. I don't like country music so I don't call into the local country music station and complain. Making real hip-hop music isn't easy and it's hilarious to hear the detractors claim that it is.