Ableton Live 6 is amazing, looks professional, sounds professional, and easy(ish) to use
http://www.ableton.com/
I used to use Acid Pro years ago, felt cheap and limited
Fruity loops - rubbish
Reason 3.0 I never got to grips with, although it can be combined with Ableton
I used to make tunes on my Amiga using Octamed so i've been through a whole host of shit programs over the years.
Hardware: for hip hop and d'n'b get yourself a pair of technics SL 1210's and a good Vestax mixer with bulletproof crossfader - mines a PCV 275. Learn to beat mix, teach yourself to scratch. Then try to make music. Beat mixing will teach you timing but also how to avoid soundclashes which is essential for combining sounds in productions.
Get some good small monitor speakers (not a computer monitor i mean for monitoring) as well as some good large ones. I use Wharfedales, get good ones so you can hear the true sound of what you're creating.
If you want to do midi then obviously a keyboard, interface and drum machine too - not sure which are the best as I don't use them - with something like Ableton you can create your own midi without the need for them, but obviously on a more limited scale.
lastly - have fun!
and post us links to some of your stuff!