That's a misconception. You don't have to take shitty deals... Not if you have a huge following and you work hard building up your fan-base before you go to these labels. It's not about skill, to them, it's about them spending money on something that potentially will (or will not) sell. It's way more complex than "Oh, you're dope at rapping, go sign a shitty deal and work your way up." There are much more intelligent ways to go about that.
3 years ago, you might be right about the internet charts not making a difference, but now, majors are really starting to realize the power of the 'net. Believe me, I've sat in plenty of meetings where we've discussed this at great length. The Internet is "real life" promotion. I've collected 10,000+ emails of people who want a CD, since 2002. That's "real life" money. I haven't spent a dime to promote my name, besides the 10$ per month that I pay soundclick.
Just because you hear some rumors and listen to my songs, try not to assume all this weird shit about me. You don't know my siutation based off my lyrics and my "image" -- and what you think you know about major labels. Just get it from my mouth, it'll be a lot more accurate.
The truth is, yeah, I started getting involved in rap around 1996 -- but between 1996-2001 - I probably rapped about 20 songs (which were covers of other peoples music). I didn't get serious until 2002. I didn't even make a song until 2002. Since then, I've made over 300. I'm practicing, I'm developing. I'm not that good yet, yo, I'm nowhere NEAR the level I want to be at.
Plus, I'm not ready to throw my life into the complete and utter chaos that is "fame." I'm happy right now, I'm enjoying my small-scale internet success, I'm building a fanbase and a business plan. I'm networking with a lot of folks and when the time is right, I will take it to the next level.