Will Smith...he raps happy
Jay Z has been way too hyped, and Lil Wayne hated on. You can't possibly have listened to Wayne's entire body of work and still say he's trash. He's a lot of hit or miss but dude puts out about 5,000 songs a year. What do you expect? How is he hated on for being pop and Jay Z isn't?
I've always been a Mos fan, but to keep things recent I'll say the best right now are Lupe & Joe Budden. Nas, Ghostface, the Roots, and a lot of others are putting out great albums, but those first two deliver on so many levels (production, lyrical content, listenability, genius wordplay, emotionally impact, an appreciation for hip hop as an art).