Yo yo yo, mad props to my bruddah Derwoord for straight analyzin' da hip to da hizzop.
Seriously, rap and hip-hop are lyric driven forms. In some Eminem, the lyrics practially double as percussion. What really go me, though, was singling out Snoop Dogg as an example of excellent lyrics with lousy music. Gin 'n Juice is a perfect example: I first heard the bluegrass cover of it, by the Gourds. That is an awesome song: Good lyrics, excellent instrumental work, ironic presentation (and a totally obscure band, so no baggage there). So I poked around and found out that it was a Snoop song, and downloaded it. Gaaaah. It's not so good (Though the darthphunk version of Ted Koppel singing it, which one can find
on Somethingawful.com, is hysterical.)
To the overall question: Some bands I pretty much whore for. I'll buy almost anything from Blue Öyster Cult, Jethro Tull, or King Crimson, listen and grin, whether it sucks or not, and, let's be honest, sometimes BÖC's lyrics are embareassingly (sic) bad, though sometimes they're pure genius.
Some bands, though, I have found real gems from, even though I wouldn't go out and buy an album on a bet. (Cher and Paula Abdul to name the two most embarrassing.)
And sometimes is is just the lyrics. Eminem is a pretty perfect example of that. I give high points for clever.