Joey Bada$$

Nas was always going to catch a lot of flack by stating 'Hip Hop is Dead' on his eighth album of the same name. Who better to prove him wrong than a kid who freakishly recalls the rhyme genius in his 'Illmatic' heyday? Aged just 17, Joey Bada$$ released the '1999' mixtape in 2012 to great acclaim. He doesn't peddle any of the cornball cliches that currently infect hip hop (rave beats, pitched-down vocals and anthemic choruses). Instead, he just tells it how he sees it from his native Brooklyn over beats that gave nods to hip hop's jazzier past.