Has Hip Hop Really Died?

I remember buying "IT WAS WRITTEN" Nas's second album. I purchased it at a cd store on Junction Blvd in Queens, called "Numbers", At the time I can't say I was a DIE HARD hip hop fan. Up until that point I had mildly been into all different types of music. Hip Hop, Salsa, Merengue, Rock, Etc..Etc.. I bought the album because of a popular song at the time called "If I Ruled The World". I wasn't interested nor aware of the CLASSIC tracks I was about to become addicted to for the next DECADE. Which brings me to my point, and I'm not just saying this because I'm older and don't listen to "Rap" as much. The quality of the music we call hip hop has declined to the point where I feel like my mother, when I hear it and want to "TURN DOWN THAT NOISE" There are quotes from my era of hip hop( 93-2002 ) that'll twist your brain into a pretzel. Artists like Wu-Tang, Snoop, Dr Dre, Nas, Biggie, Big Pun, Big L, and Jay Z, though later on, just to name a few, are a dying breed. The feeling I had as I walked down Junction towards my house was indescribable. First "The Message" Jesus! The beat with it's soothing violins and wicked wordplay all the while telling an intricate story made me see the world in a whole new light, and mind you this was just the first track. You had "I gave you power" A track that forever changed how I looked at music in general " Always I'm in some shit, my abdomen is the clip the barrels my dick" I mean, I was BLOWN AWAY. Alas, our younger brother and sisters generation would consider artists like LiL Wayne, Young Jeezy, and Soulja Boy, the new creme de la creme. I just wanted to share how much this saddens me, I came to this sad reality, when I was driving home from work the other day. It hit me that I had switched over to A.M. Radio and NEVER switched back. This might be in part to the fact that I'm much more into sports than in recent years, but I attribute it to the fact that there's never anything worth me listening to on ANY STATION. I mean seriously, I can only hear a Jay Z song (Empire State of Mind) So many times! So now I listen to sports talk radio. All the time, It feels like a family member had passed away, one I had grown up with, who I shared so many memories with, memories of a better time lyrically, when word play mattered. When beats were part of a song, and not THE WHOLE SONG. Which is the case with most wack artists, who fool the listener by having a HYPNOTIC BEAT, and then have it played on the radio 34 million times in a row. Forcing you to accept it as POPULAR music..... I know it might not be such a big deal, but it is to me. A part of my life is nomore, nomore will I wait in anticipation for an Artist to release an album, Artists like Busta Rhymes, The Beatnuts, The Roots, I mean, these guys are LEGENDS-Mostly in part because of how low the bar has dropped since then. Sigh... Lemme know how you feel...