i'm pretty sure once something hit's broad media like MTV it's not underground anymore.
anyone can agree that immortal's shit has been weaker ever after rev #2, and aesop is still dope but rob sonic probably pulls off the style better =/. but point of the matter is, refer to underground hip-hop, not rap and see the lyrical difference. i mean when u say "wow an actually good rap song came out" you should expect to get trolled by any music genre no matter who the fans are. that's a bold statement to make in a genre that has very blurry boundaries as to what is what. if you say the underground hip-hop scene isn't artistic i'll tell you to go shove a vinyl up your ass, for that's where the most creative hip-hop samples come from, something lacking in the "new age" of rap/hiphop. Hip-hop is based off of loops/samples, unlike the produced stuff that rap is based off of. hip-hop is artistic in the name as to the fact that pretty much every hiphop song is a compilation of sounds, samples, and verses while rap is based off producing a song to bump over whatever pop station you listen to. it's like getting into an argument over happy house vs hardcore house tho. most people can't tell the difference, except for someone that really understands the genre