Early life
Born DeAndre Ramone Way in Chicago, Illinois on July 28, 1990, Way moved from Chicago to Atlanta, Georgia at age seven, where he became interested in rap music. 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 video-based social community YouTube. Following positive reviews on the site, Soulja Boy then established his own web pages on YouTube and MySpace. In March 2007, he recorded “Crank That” and released his first independent album Unsigned and Still Major, followed by a low-budget video filmed demonstrating the “Soulja Boy” dance. By the end of May 2007, “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” received its first airplay and Soulja Boy 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. Way’s major label debut album Souljaboytellem.com, which was reportedly recorded using just the demo version of FL Studio, was released in the United States on October 2, peaking at #4 on both the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.
On December 9, 2007, Way was sued by William Lyons (aka Souljah Boy of the Mo Thugs) who claims he first created the stage name “Souljah Boy”.
For the 50th Grammy Awards, Soulja Boy 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”.
The teen rapper recently inked a deal with Dallas-based company, Yums Shoes, for a line of his own sneakers called the “Block Star” and an apparel line. “The Soulja boy exclusive shoe will be released in the fall along with my album,” he said. “The Soulja Boy cartoon will also be released in the fall, so there’s three things to look out for.” The line will be unveiled at the fall Magic fashion trade show in Las Vegas later this year, and the rapper will appear in both television and print ads for it.
Soulja Boy says he will not use better lyrics and get more respect from the rap game, although he could, because it will ruin his reputation and image.
Initial reception
The album Souljaboytellem.com was met with mostly negative reviews, despite a positive one from Allmusic. Several reviewers credited Soulja Boy with spearheading a new trend in hip-hop, while speculating he will likely be a one hit wonder.
Critics and hip-hop figures such as Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Jermaine Dupri 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, mindless music that discards rap’s traditional emphasis on message. And even one article about his songs and heavily criticizing his musical style has dubbed Soulja Boy the “Nickelback of hip hop”. 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, pro-violence content or innuendo and, ironically, many of his recent recordings feature violent content and sexual innuendo. In the original YouTube video for “Shootout”, Way demonstrates his dance while holding a handgun in each hand and pretending to shoot into the audience.
Feud with Ice-T
In June 2008, on DJ Cisco’s Urban Legend mixtape, Ice-T criticized Soulja Boy for “killing hip-hop” and his song “Crank That” for being “garbage” compared to the works of other hip-hop artists as Rakim, Das EFX, Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube. Soulja Boy responded in a YouTube video by mocking Ice-T’s age (Ice-T was born in 1958) and claiming that he needed to support his family through his brand of music. Ice-T proceeded to offer a video response to Soulja Boy’s reaction in which he neglected to offer an apology while reiterating his belief that Soula Boy’s music was “garbage”. Rapper Kanye West defended Soulja Boy by arguing that Soulja Boy created a new, original work for hip-hop, thus keeping the authentic meaning of the music. Soulja Boy followed suit by buying Ice-T a flaming set of gigantic popcorn machines.
References in popular culture
Soulja Boy recently became an item in the first round NBA playoff series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards. In a bout of trash talking before the start of the series, Wizards guard Deshawn Stevenson called Cleveland superstar LeBron James “overrated,” prompting James to say that he wouldn’t return the insult, as that would be “almost like Jay-Z [responding to a negative comment] made by Soulja Boy.” Soulja Boy made an appearance at Game 3 of the series (played in Washington) in support of the Wizards; his music was played over the PA system. Despite his team losing the game by more than 30 points and LeBron posting poor numbers (compared to his exceptionally high averages), LeBron claims that the trick had no effect on him, and that his young son is a big fan of Soulja Boy.
30 Thousand 100 Million
Soulja Boy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building, swag
So I said thirty thousand hundred million
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
So thirty thousand hundred million
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
So, so, so, so, so thirty thousand hundred million
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
Word around town
I got bitches on my dick, Soulja
Word around town
I got cameras taking pics
Word around town
Man I'm hot, down the beach
Word around town
I spend three million on my wrist
Word around town
I spend twelve million on my
Word around town, bitch
This is how I live
Word around town
My dick, taste like ribs
Word around town, bitch
What happen to
So thirty thousand hundred million,
All my niggers go so crazy and it's fucking so sweat
Soulja I said thirty thousand hundred million,
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
Swag, thirty thousand hundred million,
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
Soulja, Soulja, Soulja, Soulja thirty thousand hundred million,
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
Soulja I said thirty thousand hundred million,
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
Swag, thirty thousand hundred million,
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
Soulja, Soulja, Soulja, Soulja thirty thousand hundred million,
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
So, so, so thirty thousand hundred million,
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
Try for my swag it,
On my dick,
Tear on my, like a
Bitches on my dick,
Suck my dick,
Playboy man chilly
Nigga
The lyrics to Soulja Boy's song 30 Thousand 100 Million discusses the rapper's wealth, status and influence in the music industry. The opening lines, "Soulja thirty thousand hundred million, all my niggers go so crazy in this f***ing building, swag," is a reference to his wealth, with Soulja Boy rapping about having $30,100,000 in his bank account. He goes on to say that his "n*****s go so crazy in this f***ing building," indicating that his presence alone can elicit a wild response from his audience.
Soulja Boy then continues to boast about his lavish lifestyle, mentioning that he has "bitches on [his] dick" and that he spends millions on jewelry ("I spend three million on my wrist" and "I spend twelve million on it"). He also claims to have a highly desirable sexual prowess ("My d**k tastes like ribs") and frames the fame and fortune he's acquired as a result of his music career as an aspirational lifestyle choice.
Overall, the song is a celebration of Soulja Boy's success, a testament to his unconquerable confidence and swagger, and a representation of his aspiration to inspire others to follow in the same footsteps.
Line by Line Meaning
Soulja thirty thousand hundred million
Soulja Boy suggests that he has a vast wealth of amount around 30,100,000,000 and his black friends are highly excited and wild in a building.
All my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building, swag
All of his black friends are going wild with excitement and energy, and the overall mood is buoyed by a feeling of swag.
Word around town, I got bitches on my dick, Soulja
Soulja Boy is spreading gossip as he claims that many women are interested in him.
Word around town, I got cameras taking pics
People are keeping an eye on Soulja Boy and taking pictures of him everywhere (it could suggest the paparazzi following him).
Word around town, Man I'm hot, down the beach
Soulja Boy is extremely popular in the town and even when he is relaxing by the beach, he is still the center of attention.
Word around town, I spend three million on my wrist
Soulja Boy is again creating rumors that he is so wealthy that he could afford to spend three million on the lavish jewelry on his wrist.
Word around town, I spend twelve million on my
This line is incomplete and doesn't convey a concrete meaning. It seems like Soulja Boy is boasting about spending a substantial amount on something.
Word around town, bitch, this is how I live
Soulja Boy doesn't care about other people's opinions or gossip, and he is happy living his life the way he wants.
Word around town, my dick, taste like ribs
This line is crude and has no contextual value. It may suggest that Soulja Boy's genital region tastes like a particular flavor of ribs.
What happens to
This line is incomplete and could be interpreted in various ways, depending on the preceding and succeeding lines.
So thirty thousand hundred million, all my niggers go so crazy, and it's fucking so sweat
Soulja Boy is reiterating his vast wealth and his black friends' excitement, and things are heating up by the second.
Soulja I said thirty thousand hundred million, all my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
Soulja Boy restates his claim of immense wealth and that his black friends are getting wild in the building.
So, so, so, so, so thirty thousand hundred million, all my niggers go so crazy in this fucking building
Soulja Boy emphasizes the incredible amount of wealth he has and how his black friends are getting ramped up in the building.
Try for my swag it, on my dick, tear on my, like a
This line appears to be a bunch of random words and phrases strung together and doesn't have any logical meaning.
Bitches on my dick
Soulja Boy is bragging once again that numerous women are interested in him and want to be with him.
Suck my dick
This line connotes vulgarity and is utterly obscene, with no implications of substance.
Playboy man chilly, Nigga
This line is a combination of two separate slang phrases that seem to have different meanings and can be difficult to decipher.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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