hip hop mixing

[mobilelab]

For the past few months I've been mixing hip hop for some friends of mine. i have experience mostly with rock so i referenced quite a few brand new, mainstream hip-hop albums. This is where my questions lie:
1. It seems as though almost all( if not all ) of the instrumentation/vocals are panned dead center, w/ the exception of chorus background vocals. Am I wrong?
2. It also seems as though the main vocal is dry of spatial effects ( i.e.: reverb, delay ). Again, am I wrong?
I have to admit, this has been an interesting challenge. With so much going on dead center, I've become pretty handy with my 7-band eq and compressors, both single and multiband. Anyone with hip-hop mixing experience please help. Thank you.

[Imago]

what you need to do is create a little wider stereo spread of the beat. then just sink the main vocals straight up at 12:00 then pan any overdub vocals to the right and left. check out a book called "the art of mixing" It is the best way to get a Mental picture of how the mix should sound or "look"(mentally)(Read the book and you'll understand). Not just with rap, but this book will help you in all aspects of mixing.

Peace