Listen to Foreign Exchange, Kero One and The Streets. Not a lotta people know about them, but they should.
Foreign Exchange is the collaboration between some guy from New York and some guy from Denmark, I think. Denmark guy produces, New York provides the lyrics. There might be more members, now.
Kero One has the familiar intelligent 2 - 3 words that you heard from back in the day. Not much else to describe him.
The Streets is a bit more well known, and it's only one guy. Dunno why he used plurals. Anyway, it's Mike something-or-other, from England, all made by himself. He's currently my favorite, as his lyrics don't whine about other's business or complain about things bigger than him. His songs're completely self-related and situation-driven. I love it.
If you're interested, you can find a few stuffs by them on
Music.Download, for free. If you've got Soulseek, I'm always online under the name Schimid, and I've gotten Streets' full album.