Now I am into MF Doom, Danger Doom, Mr. Lif, El-P, Quasimoto, Aceylone, Del, Hieroglyphics, more lyrical, more though provoking hip-hop. I def. feel those were great days of hip-hop, but todays MC's, DJ's etc...are way more advanced.
El-P continues to be one of my favorite to date. Company flow to definitive jux...I just downloaded a 'Jukie skate rock' from their site. Pretty dope ass beat!
Like you mentioned, another aspect of the Hip-Hop culture that always strikes my soul is turntablism. The invisible skratch piklz, DJ babu, Rhettmatic, etc. and other crews have brought alot of attention to that. I still have my 1200's sitting in the garage waiting for me to take them out and start farging with them again. I've always been a beat before lyric type of fan. It takes me a while to learn the lyrics...but I'll recognize a beat 15 years later.