Lyrics? Words?

Lyrics? Words? What role do they have in hip hop? Since hip hop isn't really about singing and melody, is the music behind the voice the important part? Are the producers of the beat the real great mind while the MC's are just there to make it sound a bit better? The music is what definitely adds the pop element to the music.Hoe necessary is the the rapping in rap?

I think in some modern rap the words have lyrics have lost part of their importance. So much of it is about the beat and having something to "bump" too, while losing part of the essence of the music. There's a reason some of te greatest rappers are referred to as poets, what they speak about truly is their poetry. When I think of rappers who are poets, Tupac is the first rapper who comes to mind. Using this platform as a way to spread his message on critical, important subjects with songs like "Brenda's Got A Baby" and "Changes", he brought these topics to the international level. Which at the time may have been a bit taboo to do.