Prelude to a Legacy 7.24.09: Soulja Boy

Posted by Fred Richani on 07.24.2009

Soulja Boy is an artist that people either love or hate. Instead of Soulja Boy, this time Fred Richani tells 'em why the boy wonder is special and will have a future in the music business.



DeAndre Way was born in 1990, but he should consider himself one of the most revolutionary artists of the decade. Still only the age of 18 (until his nineteenth birthday July 28), Way already has a number one hit and Platinum plaque for "Crank That" under his belt. If you haven't already figured out who I'm talking about, it's the young man we all know as the rapper Soulja Boy.

Now I know what you're thinking: How can I write a column on Soulja Boy of all people? You will all use the same argument I always here about the kid. He can't rap. He can't dance. He has no style. He has no talent. He killed hip-hop. He is the anti-Christ. Believe me, I get it, people. Although for those that will bring up the aforementioned points, I respectfully disagree.

Soulja Boy has revolutionized music and inspired many in a way. Just a couple years back, he was a 16-year-old kid looking to get started in the rap game he grew up loving. 50 Cent and the group G-Unit were his favorite rappers, inspiring him to pursue his hip-hop dream. Way was born in Chicago and moved to Atlanta at the age of six, where he got into rap music. By the age of 14, he moved to Mississippi to live with his father, who happened to own a recording studio. As you could imagine, the young cat went crazy once he finally had access to the closest thing to a real recording studio.

The then-wanna-be rapper and close friend he nicknamed Arab spent countless time in the studio as any hungry artist would in order to perfect their craft. Yet Soulja Boy knew he wasn't going to blow up via local shows, mixtape sales, and just recording with Arab all by himself. They had to showcase their hunger and entertainment value to a national and even a worldwide audience. The way they did that was through the portal you are reading this column from now (no, not 411Mania.com, although that would be pretty sweet) : the internet.

With Youtube.com becoming a revolutionary tool to turn nobodies into instant celebrities, Soulja Boy saw his chance to capitalize on the new generation of internet users. He made music videos, promos, even dance clips. He utilized Myspace.com as an outlet for his music and Youtube for his personality. In addition to Myspace, Way also used SoundClick.com, which is a multi-based social network that offer unsigned artists a to self-promote their music. It certainly beats hustling mixtapes all over Batesville, Mississippi.

Speaking of hustling, after doing his Myspace, SoundClick, and Youtube promotions to death, Soulja Boy was about to finally receive a dose, actually, more like 21 shots of super stardom. He released his first independent album titled Unsigned & Still Major: Da Album Before da Album that was accompanied by a low-budget video that demonstrated his then-newly invented "Crank That" dance in March 2007. The single "Crank That", complete with it's steel drum samples from FL Studio, snap music-inspired beat, and incredibly original dance became an internet sensation. Not long after, Way met Mr. Collipark (famous for producing the Crunk group Ying Yang Twins), leading to him to sign a deal with Interscope Records. After the original version of "Crank That" became popular underground and started to bubble up, the label decided to re-produce the record for a wide release.

Soulja Boy - Crank That

The results of the signing with Interscope were huge for both the artist and the label. Not only did "Crank That" reach number one in the U.S., but also climb to the top five of the Canadian, Irish, and Australian music charts. It also went platinum (over 1 million singles sold) and sold 4,183,000 digital downloads to date in the U.S. alone, good enough for it to be the third highest selling-song ever (it was number one at one point). "Crank That" even snagged a Grammy nomination and was heard during a scene on the hit HBO series Entourage.



Unfortunately, Soulja Boy's album souljaboytellem.com didn't receive favorable reviews or get certified Gold and Platinum like the lead single "Crank That". Despite what would normally be a setback for other artists, it turned into a positive in the end. The album still nearly went Gold and produced another Top 40 in "Soulja Girl". And for those that though Soulja Boy was just a one hit wonder, they were definitely wrong.



The sequel to souljaboytellem.com was released in December 2008 titled iSouljaBoyTellem(original, huh?) to less sales than its predecessor. However, it did produce two big hits for Soulja Boy, showing all his haters that he was not a one trick pony with "Turn My Swag On" and the smash single "Kiss Me Thru the Phone". Besides, hip-hop is based more on singles success these days anyway. Just ask Flo Rida.

So why is Soulja Boy on a prelude to a positive legacy?



He may never be the greatest rapper alive, but as a kid that produced most of his albums, including a number one hit. He may never be the best dancer in the world. Yet there is no denying his impact—the album sales, fashion trends, and dance moves. Still disagree with me? Well, when you have people doing your dance at their own WEDDING, you know you and your music are hot.

You don't have to like somebody to respect their success. I could hate Bruce Bowen because he scores no points a game, but I'm going to respect him when he holds a star player to little or no field goals. Maybe in the long term DeAndre Way doesn't have a future in rapping, but production, style, and definitely marketing, he is just scratching the surface. Soulja Boy, tell 'em!