The Lyricist... A lost art???

I have wondered over the past 5+ years if the art of the lyricist was a dead or lost one. Not that there are no lyricists left, but rather if there will ever be a resurgence of the craft to the point of dominance or that it competes with the mainstream. Gone are the days that you could rapidly rattle off several current songs or artists with either conscious or great artistic content. Right now you not only have to think about it, but even more frequently you have to gage whether that album is even still current anymore... And even then, did it get any/much radio play? No wonder no one is creating art anymore, we have become a consumer base that shuns it due to the music industries manipulation and lack of product. All the radio stations are owned by a handful of corporations and the same could be said about the record companies.

There has always been "fun/party" music in hip hop since the beginning... I know, I was there in the late '70's when it was going down... But then the music evolved and it's potential blossomed and peaked. Diversity became the norm and it was a beautiful thing. Gangsta, Conscious, Party, Gimmick and Pop all existed harmoniously. Then Gangsta/Drug music dominated... And though I love it, I did miss the diversity... But now, it is all "Bitch suck My Dick" while I "Bling Blig" Floss. Every song is the same shit and great lyrics are few and far between. There was never a time when everyone in the public eye was a great lyricist... But there was also never a time when NO ONE in the forefront was a great lyricist.

I know Soulja Boy Tell'em has a lot of haters, and I understand why... He seems to symbolize everything wrong that I am describing. Personally do not like most of his songs (though I do like some of them and some of his beats are sick as fuck), but he is not the problem and hating him is misguided anger. He is a symptom of the cancer growing in the music INDUSTRY. And therein lies a large part of the problem with SHOW BUSINESS. How can we expect Business and Industry to look out for us? It is in their best interest to promote as much material devoid of artistic merit as possible. Art cannot be churned out like a robotic machine for any length of time. Shit however is excreted on a daily basis. We need SHIT, but we need MORE than JUST SHIT. We NEED Souljah Boy Tell'em, but we also need Common and Talib Kweli as well as Skyzoo, Eminem, MF Doom, Sean Price, Jean Grae, Immortal Technique, Masta Ace, Lil' Wayne, Nas and AZ. We need diversity, we need less industry and more artistry. Yes, I know art means more risk and less productivity, but in the end it is worth it and society as a whole will be better off for it.

Peace

Cybergodd