Check out "The Cool Kids".
First real old skool rap(well... Old Skool by todays definition, new school by the 80s definition. What came between Old School and Gangsta is"new school".) I've heard out of a new artist in years; and it's pretty good.
For many of my readers this is going to be surprising, but there is in fact GOOD Rap.
Thing is, rap shouldn't be taken as music. Hip-hop is music (mostly very bad music, though there are exceptions - Tribe called quest, De La Soul etc...); but real honest to god rap, is poetry set to a beat. If you take that for what it is, you might find you can appreciate it.
Listen to KRS One, Eric B and Rakim, Common, Talib Kweli, Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Freestyle Fellowship, the Lyricists Lounge sessions etc... and you'll hear what I mean.
