word, hip hop's production has made it a lot better, i think production was at its best in the '90's though, some of the most recent production sounds too polished to me
and while the technical aspect of rapping has obviously increased, i completely disagree that rap today encompasses a lot more personality and charisma... old school cats got off on unique personalities, that's what rap is missing today in my opinion. we got too many cats thinking they're dope because they're super-lyrical (or try to be), but they don't have the same level of character/charisma rappers like Kool Keith, Melle Mel, Snoop, the Fat Boys, Guru, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Tim Dog, Tribe, Willie D... lot of dudes. they weren't crazy lyrical or anything, they just had style that made the songs entertaining
i don't think Lord Finesse sounds as stiff as you seem to think he does, his flow sounds tight & on point to me, he's somewhere between that old school stiffness and the coming "new school" smoother delivery (Funky Technician was released in 1990, a lot of the raps written in '88/'89).
i like that stiff sound sometimes anyway, certain cats make it work. Evidence still raps like that, he's got a basic flow but it's so weathered, he wrings so much out of it. there's room for both.
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