Just going to throw in some recommendations, since it seems like the thrust of the posts moved away from Roots-centricity.
Yelawolf's Trunk Muzik 0-60 is a really amazing record
Kanye's MBDTF is, despite (because people are "haters") all the acclaim, really one of the transcendent rap albums of all-time. I would honestly put it up with my second-favorite (genre-blind) album of all-time, Illmatic.
Odd Future has some of the most vile, offensive raps, but they are really something. The principles (of the 11 member, teenaged LA rap crew) are Tyler, the Creator and Earl. Their two mixtapes are pretty amazing if you can get over their immaturity and offensiveness.
Blu & Exile's Below The Heavens is a beautiful, old-school-sounding rap album from 2007.
And of course, Das Racist's Sit Down, Man is a modern classic. Amazing rap duo/trio based out of Queens. Funny, smart, awesome. One of the members, Himanshu, has some posts on Videogum. He's a smart dude.
Diddy's album from 2010 is a slept-on banger.
Roc Marciano's Marcberg is a gritty, powerful record from last year.
Rick Ross's album from last year is really good, too, if you like his blustery sound.