Hey Logan!
Have you ever heard of a VST called Bleep? (link) I downloaded it a few months ago, and it's pretty awesome.
It's an emulator of the MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID sound chip used in the old Commodore computers (like the CBM-II, 64, and 128). You can get some pretty neat sounds out of it.
FM-4 and Harmonaut are pretty nice, too, but they're more "traditional" softsynths.
If you go to download it, just make sure you watch out for the suckerware installer. It has one of those installers where you have to click "Decline" on a piece of junk before geetting your stuff. I'd hate to see you have to uninstall the AskJeeve's Chrome extension toolbar (or McAfee...eww).
Best,
Will
PS: I heard you imply that rap isn't music.
I used to think that it was a very stupid genre until I heard some of the underground stuff. Turns out, rappers are a lot more likely to discuss mature subjects than other genres. They just don't put that stuff on radio, so most people who are not from urban communities only get exposed to the worst of the worst. It's no wonder so many people hate it; I know I'd hate rock if I was only exposed to Nickelback and Seether, rock's equivalents of 2 Chainz and Wacka Flocka Flame.
You seem like a very intelligent guy (I don't know how to word that without sounding condescending, but there is no patronization intended.), so maybe you'd be interested in some of the more thought-provoking stuff.
Brother Ali- Letter to my Countrymen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_2cVUXcbFA
Lupe Fiasco- Around My Way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S77zUWqawag
Blue Scholars- No Rest for the Weary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYD9eoi_2pQ
Saul Williams- Coded Language (more of a spoken word thing, but it's definitely hip-hop influenced)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HerpGwbLSM8
A lot of people don't like it, and that's obviously fine, but widespread claims that "hip-hop is stupid" or "RAP stands for Retards Attempting Poetry" (seriously folks?) are, although understandable, totally baseless.
I dunno, I just kind of find it frustrating when people blanket all hip-hop music as stupid when there are people using the genre to say things like,
"Stable is when the Ba'ath had Baghdad
But corporate jets really had to have that gas bad
War and they hope they all fall from the ratatat
Cause that's just more dinosaur for the Cadillac"
or,
"You don't give money to the bums
On a corner with a sign bleeding from their gums
Talking about you don't support a crackhead.
What you think happens to the money from your taxes?
Shit, the government's an addict
With a billion dollar a week kill brown people habit
And even if you ain't on the front line
When massah yell crunch time, you right back at it
Plain look at how you hustling backwards
At the end of the year, add up what they subtracted
Three outta twelve months your salary pays for that madnessMan, that's savage
What's left? Get a big ass plasma
To see where they made Dan Rather point the damn camera
Only approved questions get answered
Now stand your ass up for that national anthem"
Anyway, sorry for the rant! It's just kind of a recurring thing that I hear all the time, and I understand it, but it just kinda sucks. Not trying to change your opinion on the genre or anything, but a lot of it is thought-provoking music worth the same level of respect and appreciation as any other piece of art, music, or literature, even if it's not aesthetically pleasing to everyone (and nothing really is, ya know?)