Hey hey... Jay-z is not my favorite artist by any means, but the duo he did with LP kicks ass. I also like Method Man. Rap as a genre totally appeals to me and I'd be the first to say you probably haven't given it a fair shot.
I agree...Jay-Z is not my favorite as well, but he has decent lyrics and comes up with new things all the time. This in contrast with other rappers, is unique...all rappers have the "ghetto gospel" and that's what their first CVD is always about, but what then? often their following albums are just a refurbishing of the first one.
Method man is probably my favorite rapper....whenever he is in town I go see the show.