2Pac and Biggie have gotten to be cliches. Its rather annoying. Jay-Z has a monotone and the beats in his songs are boring (except for "Moment of Clarity", that was a sick beat).
My favorite has to be Fabolous, although T.I. is a close second. Lyrically Fab can hold a candle to anyone (check out his new song with Akon "Change Up" for proof) and T.I. you can just bump all day long!
Eminem is pretty damn good too though...good storyteller like Scarface. Bone Thugs are fun to listen to also.