DeAndre Ramone Way
(born July 28, 1990), better known by his stage name Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
, or simply Soulja Boy
, is an American rapper and record producer.
In September 2007, his single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was initially self-published on the Internet, and it became a number-one hit in the United States for seven non-consecutive weeks starting in September 2007. Despite his commercial success, his music has been the subject of ridicule from his peers and critics. [1] [2]
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Early life
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em was born in
Chicago and moved to
Atlanta at age six,
[3] [4] where he became interested in
rap music.
[5] At age 14, he moved to
Batesville, Mississippi, with his father, who provided a
recording studio for Way to explore his musical ambitions.
Career
In November 2005, Way posted his songs on the website
SoundClick. Following positive reviews on the site, he then established his own web pages on
YouTube and
MySpace.
[6] [7] In March 2007, he recorded "
Crank That" and released his first independent album
Unsigned & Still Major: Da Album Before da Album
, followed by a low-budget video filmed demonstrating the "Crank That dance". By the end of May 2007, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" received its first airplay and Way met with
Mr. Collipark to sign a deal with
Interscope Records.
On August 12, 2007, the song appeared on the
Emmy-award winning
HBO series
Entourage
, and by September 1, it topped the
Billboard Hot 100 and
Hot RingMasters charts.
[8] Way's major label debut album
Souljaboytellem.com
, which was reportedly recorded using just the demo version of
FL Studio,
[9] [10] was released in the United States on October 2,
[11] peaking at #4 on both the
Billboard 200 and
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.
[12] On December 9, 2007, Way was sued by William Lyons (aka
Souljah Boy of
Mo Thugs) who claims he first created the stage name "Souljah Boy".
For the
50th Grammy Awards, Way was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Rap Song with "Crank That (Soulja Boy)". He lost to
Kanye West's and
T-Pain's "
Good Life".
Souljaboytellem.com
Souljaboytellem.com
received a favorable review from
Allmusic but received mainly negative ones, such as from
Entertainment Weekly
.
[13] Several reviewers credited Soulja Boy with spearheading a new trend in hip-hop, while speculating he will likely be a
one-hit wonder.
[14] [15] [16]
Critics and hip-hop figures such as
Snoop Dogg and
Method Man [17] cite Soulja Boy as artistically typical of contemporary rap trends such as writing for the lucrative
ringtone market, and the ascendence of "
Southern hip hop", emphasizing catchy music that discards rap's traditional emphasis on message.
[18] [19] Soulja Boy identifies his goal as making upbeat, party-themed music that avoids the negative, violent image that he sees in most hip-hop.
Despite this, his music has been banned from some school dances for sexual, violent content or innuendo. However, he has denied these claims.
[20] In the original YouTube video for "Shootout", Soulja Boy demonstrates his dance while holding a handgun in each hand and pretending to shoot into the audience.
[21]
Feud with Ice-T
Category:Wikipedia articles needing context
In June 2008, on DJ Cisco’s
Urban Legend
mixtape,
Ice-T criticized Way for "killing hip-hop" and his song "Crank That" for being "garbage" compared to the works of other hip-hop artists such as
Rakim,
Das EFX,
Big Daddy Kane and
Ice Cube.
[22] The two then traded numerous videos back and forth over the Internet. These videos included a cartoon and video of Ice-T dancing on Way's behalf and an apology, but reiteration of his feelings that Way's music "sucks", on Ice-T's behalf.
[23] Rapper
Kanye West defended Way by arguing that the younger artist created a new, original work for hip-hop, thus keeping the authentic meaning of the music.
[24]
iSouljaBoyTellem
The follow-up to
souljaboytellem.com
,
iSouljaBoyTellem
, was released on
December 16,
2008, to negative critical reception.
[25] The first single from the album, "
Bird Walk", peaked at number 40 on the
Billboard
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and the top 20 on the
Hot Rap Tracks chart. "
Kiss Me Thru the Phone", with
Sammie, followed, peaking at #3 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks charts.
[26]
Robbery
On December 30, 2008, Soulja Boy was robbed and assaulted in his home. Initial reports indicated that the robbers were six masked men with
AK-47s and
pistols but on December 31, 2008, video clips surfaced on the Internet of two masked men claiming sole credit for the crime.
[27] [28] Soulja Boy described the incident to
MTV News a month later: He had come home very late at night after attending an album release party and was recording songs with friends when the robbers came in pointing their guns.
[29]
The DeAndre Way
The DeAndre Way
[30] is the rapper's upcoming third studio album. Way has stated that the album is intended to be his most personal and successful album thus far. When speaking on possible collaborations, he stated he wished to work with artists such as
Jay-Z,
Lil Wayne, and
Kanye West among others.
[31]
Stacks on Deck Entertainment
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em founded the Stacks on Deck Entertainment
record label in 2004. The label is distributed by both
Interscope Records and
Collipark Music. Other artists on the roster include Arab, JBar, the S.O.D. Money Gang (Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, Arab, and JBar), and White Tee.
[32]
Discography
Albums
- Unsigned & Still Major: Da Album Before da Album
(2007)
- souljaboytellem.com
(2007)
- iSouljaBoyTellem
(2008)
- The DeAndre Way
(2009)
Awards and nominations
- BET Awards
- *2007: Best New Artist (Nominated)
- *2008: Viewer's Choice Award: "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (Nominated)
- *2009: Viewer's Choice Award: "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" (Nominated)
- BET Hip-Hop Awards
**2007: Best Hip-Hop Dance (Won)
- Grammy Awards
- *2008: Best Rap Song: "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (Nominated)
- Ozone Awards
**2007: Patiently Waiting: Mississippi (Won)
- *2008: Best Breakthrough Artist (Nominated)
- *2008: TJ's DJ's Tastemaker Award (Nominated)
- Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
- *2007: Favorite Male Singer (Nominated)
- Teen Choice Awards
- *2009: Choice Music: Rap Artist (Nominated)
- *2009: Choice Music: R&B Track for "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" (Nominated)
- *2009: Choice Music: Hook Up for "Kiss Me Thru the Phone"
- *2009: Choice Music: Artist (Nominated)
References
- Soulja Boy marches ahead, undaunted - Los Angeles Times
- Soulja Boy emerges through criticism with 2 hits
- ‘Soulja Boy’ Being Sued By ‘Souljah Boy’
- Soulja Boy Tell Em - Biography
- Soulja Boy at SoundClick
- Soulja Boy @ YouTube
- Soulja Boy @ MySpace
- Vibe Magazine. Ayo, Technology by Brent S. Grier. November 2007. Page 50.
- Soulja Boy Official Soundclick Profile
- "Rap City" (September 2007). BET.
- Jeffries, David. "Souljaboytellem.com" Overview. Allmusic: 2007
- All Music Chart - Souljaboytellem.com
- Music Review: Souljaboytellem.com
- Soulja Boy - Souljaboytellem.com Review
- Soulja Boy - Souljaboytellem.com
- ''The Review'' - Review of ''Souljaboytellem.com''
- Method Man calls Soulja Boy GARBAGE!
- Huge hits don’t spell success for new rap stars
- New rap stars find success fleeting
- Soulja Boy Debunks "Superman Dat Hoe" Rumors
- Soulja Boy Cranks It Up Big-Time
- Ice-T Tells Soulja Boy To Eat A Dick
- Soulja Boy Tell'em Talks About New Album, Battle With Ice-T MTV. June 25, 2008.
- Ice-T vs. Soulja Boy Tell'em Video Blog Beef Heats Up; Kanye Weighs In
- Reviewing the final new CDs of 2008; Soulja Boy Tell Em
- Soulja Boy Tell Em - Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles
- SoulajBoy Assaulted in Georgia Allhiphop.com, January 2, 2009
- SOULJA BOY ROBBED AT GUNPOINT?: Rapper's rep claims masked men invaded the house; video of men claiming responsibility surfaces
- Soulja Boy Tell'em Describes Alleged Robbery
- Rapradar article
- Soulja Boy Tell'em Wants Jay-Z, Lil Wayne On DeAndre Way
- Who Is Soulja Boy’s White Rapper?