Need Advise on Mixing

[Johnson]

I need some advise for mixing.
I am doing rap/hip-hop/r&b. The progs that
I use are Cubase, Vegas pro, FruityLoops, Cool Edit. I have a few questions.
1. When I mix, should I split the sounds
in to separate tracks, meaning, should
I put the kick on one track, the snare on
another, the hihat on another and so on?
Or should I just mix the instrumental as one
track and continue on with the vocals?

2.How do I make certain parts of a track
or instrumental track echo. I want the last
word of the vocals to echo. What is the best way to do that.

3. What do I to a track first, add compression or do the eq?

I know this doesn't have anything to do with
mixing but I need to know is how much better is Akai MPC 2000 compared to fruity loops?
My Freind is a r&b producer and offered to sell me one of his for $400.

I know that I am asking alot but this Msg board has help me with my problems.
Thanks

[drstawl]

The echo is easily done in Vegas Pro by copying the section you want to echo to another track and sliding the whole thing back a few milliseconds until the echo is right.