Yes, Regional stars definitely exist, difference is most people nationwide have at least heard of them now.

For L.A., our biggest completely Regional star was Suga Free for the longest time. Before Lil Jon put him on his album, and even after that, people outside of CA had NO damn idea who he was. Quik was probably the biggest Regional one that folks at least knew of outside of the state...but with Free, NOBODY knew shit about him. Right now, the biggest one is YG...but then he was on that Freshman Cover in 2010 or 2011, and people nationwide at least know his name from tracks like "Toot it and boot it."

New York hasn't had many truly Regional stars, because everybody finds out about them fast. The mixtape folks like Papoose, Max B, etc etc...even the DJ Webstar types who make the Regional club music. But yeah, Florida still has a LOT of them. Bizzle, or cats like Brisco who might still be Cash MOney, but still unknown nationwide.

I will say this though, it's really a club thing. On the underground sounding tip, it's always been the opposite. It took FOREVER for people in L.A. to know who Murs was, while I met people in other states who knew him and were fans. Same with Little Brother...felt like some folks in Carolina didn't know them, but people in Atlanta and Florida who weren't into that type of Rap were DEFINITELY unaware. Kendrick and these stars represent this new era you speak on, where it's kind of even. He has fans in L.A., but still isn't "RUNNING" shit to some people here, although it's people in other states who say he's the best out.