So Nelly must be one of the dopest artists ever because he has a record deal. Ja Rule must be one Hell of an artist to have a record deal. Most mainstream artists are wack. Plain and simple. I don't hate 50 Cent because he is making millions of dollars, I hate him because he talks about the stupidest shit. I don't care if that's the way he grew up, the point of the matter is, that his lyrics are terrible.
They don't inspire you, they aren't thought provoking, they are simply terrible. He has a vocabulary of a third grader, and cannot come up with any thought provoking concepts.

A record deal doesn't mean shit. It just means that you know someone that's connected or you lucked out. Skill has nothing to do with having a record deal. Only reason he has one is because he is a black man from the hood who got shot, and spoke about the ghetto. I bet you Eminem signed him just to keep the illusion that every rapper is from the ghetto and talks about being a gangsta.