challenge to lyricists

I am a product of hip-hop; I could be considered a member of the founding generation of hip-hop. And although I like the beats and the music that I hear, there is something lacking that makes me uneasy. There seem to be a lack of lyricists nowadays. Sure everyone claims to be a lyricist, but there are very few.

By definition a lyricist is one who writes songs, but it seems as if a lyricist should also be socially conscious, creative and never willing to write about or on the same subject matter over and over. Currently, the only thing that one hears about in the hip-hop game is materialism, vanity and falsehoods that do nothing to improve the corpus of listeners that make such artists wealthy. Sure, I have heard that this is what goes on in the streets, and that people want to purchase these songs, but isn’t there a higher purpose to making music than just stacking loot?

I just wonder how many times can one talk about shooting folks, selling drugs, platinum teeth, diamonds in a watch on their wrist, cocaine, 24-inch rims or smoking purp? How much can this actually be contributing to the betterment of folks that are already devastated historically by the pangs of racism and prejudice? Now don’t get me wrong, I listen to the same music too, and like most of it, but there is a greater good, people. Not to mention, half these folks talking about the dirt they are doing or are likely to do, don’t even live in the communities they write about.

So y’all folks who consider yourselves to be dope lyricists, show me something, because for the record, you’re just talking out of the side of your neck and repeating news that ain’t newsworthy at all.