Tell you what
This whole argument was started because electronic keyboards began to exist and interface with turntables. Before that, hip hop beats were specifically made from sampling other tracks and throwing a break beat on top, unless you had a live band to play anything.
Sampling is the most win art imaginable. If you can take a sound clip from something else (especially something your intended audience has heard) and give it a different story, a different feel, then you've made it a different piece of artwork entirely.
I hate to agree with Ses, but he's right about one thing. People need to get together and FIX this problem. If teh only way to do that is to get our own mainstream outlet (be it radio station or television channel) then that's what needs to happen. We need to bring REAL hip hop back in a big way.
But just talking about things won't get anything done. Let's start a hip hop movement to sweep the nation.
As always, good beat Delinquent. Not as busy as one is used to, but that made it easier to read the comments and with that as a base, really puts this piece into perspective.