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.
BAD
Soulja Boy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I’m ridin round the city in a foreign whip
She say she bad
Hop inside my whip
She say she bad
Girl come on over here
And just fly away, ride away
It’s alright, it’s alright
It’s alright, it’s alright
Ridin round, Louie on my belt
And I’m ridin round the city in a foreign whip
She say she bad
I pop in my whip
She say she bad
Come on over here
And just fly away, ride away
It’s alright, it’s alright
It’s alright, it’s alright
It’s alright, it’s alright
It’s alright
Hope inside it, go, here we go
Ridin in a Ghost, take a toast
Baby girl you bad and I don’t even have to boast
Baby girl you bad and I don’t even want the most
Take you cross the road, we goin on a foreign trip
Red bottom Sace walkin in a foreign whip
And she ridin in a foreign whip, foreign heels
She say she bad
Well hop up in my whip
See I’m ridin round, Louie on my belt
And I’m flexin through the city in a foreign whip
She say she bad, hop up in my whip
She say she bad, come on over here
And just fly away, ride away
It’s alright, it’s alright
It’s alright, it’s alright
It’s alright, it’s alright
See I’m flexin through the city with my clique
Baby girl, she say she hot
Well come on over here
She say she fly, well ride up on my jet
She say she fly
Well come on over here
And just fly away, ride away
It’s alright, it’s alright
It’s alright, it’s alright
It’s alright, yea
Yea
It’s alright, it’s alright
Alright, it’s alright
And we rollin rollin rollin
Gone gone gone
And we rollin rollin rollin
It’s alright, it’s alright
Yea
The lyrics to Soulja Boy's song "Bad" depict the artist riding around the city in a foreign luxury car with a Louis Vuitton belt. He is approached by a woman who claims she is bad and wants to join him in his ride. Soulja Boy seems to be enticing her to join him while affirming repeatedly that it is all right. He depicts her as seductive and tries to set a romantic and sexy tone. The song's theme appears to be about enjoying the luxuries of life with a seductive partner, highlighting Soulja Boy's status as a wealthy celebrity.
The song focuses on material possessions, depicting Soulja Boy as a lavish spender by mentioning Louis Vuitton belts and luxurious cars. However, it also highlights his interest in women who exude confidence, also known as "bad chicks." He appears to be inviting his female fans to join him on a night of luxury and seduction. The chorus of the song is repetitive with the line "It's alright," which Soulja Boy uses to indicate and encourage his female partner not to hold back and simply enjoy the ride with him.
Line by Line Meaning
S**t, I’m ridin around, Louie on my belt
I am driving around with my Louis Vuitton belt
And I’m ridin round the city in a foreign whip
I am driving around the city in a foreign car
She say she bad
She claims to be confident and attractive
Hop inside my whip
Get into my car
Girl come on over here
Come closer to me
And just fly away, ride away
Let's leave together and travel away
We can get gone, yea we can be gone
We can leave and go anywhere we want
It’s alright, it’s alright
Everything's okay
Ridin round, Louie on my belt
I am still driving around with my Louis Vuitton belt
I pop in my whip
I get into my car
Come on over here
Come closer to me
Hope inside it, go, here we go
Get into the car, let's go
Ridin in a Ghost, take a toast
Driving in a Rolls-Royce, let's toast
Baby girl you bad and I don’t even have to boast
You are confident and attractive and I don't need to brag about it
Baby girl you bad and I don’t even want the most
You are attractive and I don't need anything else
Take you cross the road, we goin on a foreign trip
Let's go on a trip to a foreign country
Red bottom Sace walkin in a foreign whip
Wearing high-end designer shoes walking towards a foreign car
And she ridin in a foreign whip, foreign heels
She is riding in a foreign car wearing foreign heels
See I’m ridin round, Louie on my belt
I am still driving around with my Louis Vuitton belt
And I’m flexin through the city in a foreign whip
I am showing off by driving through the city in a foreign car
She say she bad, hop up in my whip
She claims to be confident and attractive, let's get into my car
See I’m flexin through the city with my clique
I am showing off with my group of friends in the city
Baby girl, she say she hot
She claims to be attractive
Well come on over here
Come closer to me
She say she fly, well ride up on my jet
She claims to be cool, let's ride on my private jet
It’s alright, yea
Everything's okay
And we rollin rollin rollin
We are continuously moving
Gone gone gone
We are leaving and not coming back
Yea
Yes
Alright, it’s alright
Everything is okay
Contributed by Jacob R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Simba
....well it's awesome but i will wait for remake
Jermaine Wade
Y'all hear that cough? 😅
not_wwtepicfail
Produced by 2 Deezy/Xay Scott.
vincent frey
Stop with that autotune !
oOBurner
This is dodo
DaVetta Allen
Instrumental?
Dinero Aron
too much autotune
MegaNikomusic
top top top!!!!
PhArAoH SODMG
way to much auto tune
Almighty 6lue
Swaq swaq swaq ! But IG @trilldreams