Madagascar is awful. AWFUL. Even worse than Oh My God.
Anyways, I'm not particularly looking forward to the new Cure album, but I'd place it higher than anything else they mentioned, at least.
Sean Paul is more of a guilty pleasure of mine than someone who actually has much talent. I just think his accent, which is real as far as I can tell, works perfectly with his style of music.
I don't really even think current mainstream rap is that bad. Artists like Outkast, Missy Elliot, Timbaland, Jay Z, The Neptunes, and Sean Paul are all doing creative things, and producing a lot of good music. Right now is a pretty damn good time for mainstream music, excluding rock.
I don't know if I really have a favorite area, but looking back, it appears that most of my favorite rappers have been from the east coast. Nas, Wu Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Run DMC, etc. So, yeah, east coast.