This is a new guy Mackelmore. Some of his songs are fucking amazing. Doesn't rap about your typical shit. Some are goofy as hell but I still like them. His serious songs though are just on another level to me.
I love those guys but just his topics of rap, I just love the realism behind it. Hip Hop hasn't seen much of this since the days of the guys you listed.
Not really a hip hop fan. There are some songs that I like but don't really connect to the music in any way. I can tell you that I loved 'It Takes a Nation of Millions...' by Public Enemy and 'Low End Theory' by a Tribe Called Quest..but mostly I listed to music that has loud guitars or that rocks in some kind of way. Both PE and Tribe rocked...so that's probably why I liked them. Not much hip hop anymore that is that strong even though '99 Problems' kicks ass.