1. So far, my hip-hop favorite albums of 2009 have been made by artists that have been releasing albums for almost 10 years, in some cases almost 20 years. Looking over my 10 hip-hop favorite albums of 2008, I'd say about half of them were made by artists that have been around a while. And these are all albums that are genuinely dope to me, not on some "Oh, they're good during a watered down year" shit. So I personally feel no urgency that hip-hop needs the proverbial boot in the ass; it's all gravy from my personal listening experience.

2. As Buildingblock must recently said in a post (but he wasn't the first), there's a severe lack of MCs under 30 that burst onto the scene trying to shake things up. Yeah, the kids love them some Drake, and he's got skills, but he's not really making music that's radically different than anything that's already out there.

3. I don't think there's the infrastructure even around anymore for the young and up comers to burst in on some the scene with a new sound to shake things up. Fifteen to 20 years ago, a major label would take a chance on a group like Cypress Hill or Wu-Tang Clan (both groups had members who had released music before, but no established commercial success). These days, you have to create music that fits into a pre-established box before a major label shows you some money.