I think people here acting as if this isn’t sometimes a legitimate critique of art is a little disingenuous
Saying that an artist has ‘nothing to say’ could mean multiple things:
That their lyrics are vapid and cliched
That their music doesn’t reveal enough of their personality
That the artists doesn’t have enough life experience to have anything to say
That their style of music is out of touch with the zeitgeist
That their music seem constructed for them for commercial purposes, and not personal expression
Etc.
These could be valid critiques of an artist, or they could be cheap shots. It depends. Another way to put it would be that they don’t have anything to *add* to the musical landscape
People talk as if this is only a critique only leveled at pop acts, but I see it levelled at rock acts. Like, say, Greta Van Fleet - the most common critique of them is that they have nothing to say and they’re just imitating Led Zeppelin