Are the lyrics alive?

In the above video, the hoods "Favorite Street Lyricist" Styles P talks about the lack of creativity and lyricism in todays hip-hop. I feel him to a certain extent. This is a huge problem of course in today's hip-hop. Too many people are striving to get to those hit singles and crossover appeal. Most of this comes from label pressure and the desire to make money over all things including the culture.

However I do have a problem with Styles as he isn't the great lyricist that he is proclaimed to be. On the one hand it's cool for him to consistently rap about how much coke he has on the block, how real he is, and how niggas ain't real yet on the next hand be upset about the other rappers who talk about their "wag" and money habits all of the time. Both lack diversity and depth to their "character". It is quite ironic that Styles can make this observation yet not see the lack of growth in his own rap style.

Before I go, let me shout out some of the remaining lyricists, Ludacris, Joe Budden, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Eminem, Nas, and Cory Gunz who might be my favorite young rapper out there.