So, I'm curious what everyone thinks about these often unknown branches of Hip-Hop. Personally, I love it, and being a someone who was raised in the roots of Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, and Rage Against the Machine I really have found what I've always wanted from Hip-Hop in these genres.

Emo-Hop would be classified by its front running emcees such as Slug of Atmosphere, and the industry proclaimed "Godfather of Emo-Hop," Sage Francis. While your typical artists merely glitter in the now and then's of emotional release along albums, these artist almost etirely devote their lyrical excusions to self analysation, intellectual foreplay, and strive to shatter the bounds of what is considered "hip-hop." A few artists to look into are:

Sage Francis
Atmosphere
Deep Puddle Dynamics
Sole
Alias
Dose-One

Progressive-Hop is another field that just continues to amaze me. With tracks slipping in and out of a concious state of "rap" and often tetering the brinks of spoken word more so than Hip-Hop at all. Crisp creative productions, mind blowing approaches and all around new sounds. A few artists from this sub-genre are:

Deep Puddle Dynamics
Edan
Eydea & Abilities
Sixtoo
Buck 65
Dynospectrum

So, just tell me what you think, feel free to name drop some artists that may be of interest aswell.