Since he went to New York his beats were used to get himself in the door so he could rap. He signed to rocafella as a rapper...he was just making beats for the roc and bringing it to baseline and then cashing the checks.
So yeah... ghostwriting did hurt him to a degree. Y'all chose to give him a pass cause he made beats. He's a rapper that happens to make beats. He's an artist overall, but his beats set the mode for his rhymes/lyrics.