Great post.
Hip Hop isn't dead- Most true hip hop has gone "underground" again. As did jazz- there are plenty of jazz musicians who are supported by the people who love and understand the music.
Popmaster Fabel has an incredible talk about how hip hop needs to be taken back by the communities that created and sustained it. He talks about how hip hop started as 4 elements that were cohesive, and then were slowly stripped away from each other by corporate powers who saw they could market (exploit) it. He talks about how those who love hip hop need to work together to bring it back to a postitive community creative expression.