it's the industry that applies those labels, and it's the "rappers" with questionable skills that apply the labels to themselves.
if you dig a genre of music, and want to create some of your own, you shouldn't feel like you have to have criteria in order to do it. Of course it makes no sense for someone who has never lived the lifestyle, to go out and make shoot 'em up raps, but that doesnt mean that the person couldnt talk about their experiences.
the problem is, that no one wants to hear boring songs consisting of obscure samples and big vocabulary anymore. unfortunately, a good chunk of hip hop's audience doesn't understand WTF is being said, and instead of taking the time to listen and catch up, they move on to something that slaps and has dumbed down, mono-syllabalic lyrics or chants.
we need to change shit in our own minds, because when I hear cats like Indo, Moe, Young Dru, Klump, Dutch, etc....the last thing I think about is what's the color of they skin. Bottom line is, the music slaps regardless of the heritage.