no mo phatt
let me save you some money!!! the mo phatt is not and i repeat is not the way to got i wouldnt buy one for 50 bucks!!!!, its the sterotypical canned riffs and bullshit loops, do not get that!!! there are way too many options, what i will say is get something expandable and tweakable, buy 1 thing and master it before you buy anything else. my recommendation is based on experience level and budget, if you are a korg user then the motif will give you fits!! if you are a yamaha user then vice versa, that being said go to the store and play with some gear, if you can understand it and do what you want without reading the manual, then thats your winner.
with the exception of reason and the roland crap with the pads that looks like a mpc i have worked on almost everything supposedly "hip hop", so if you have questions about what worked for me hit me up,
current setup
cubase sx2 = changed my world!!!
presonus firepod
mpc 1000
motif 6