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.
Hey Cutie
Soulja Boy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Girl I believe you can fly
But you have to spread your wings
Tell her I'm gonna take my,
Shorty wanna know if this is true
That I'm gonna do what it do with her
DJ won't you gonna play this song I love so
Get ready like
I like how you move
Get out of life
I had to wait
Zip it while we tell her
She's super sexy
It takes no one to tell me why
I can't keep you off my head
Listen baby
You don't need to be in a magazine
Listen baby
You're the one, me
Super sexy
You are good to me
Model
Rescue me
Super sexy
You make me safe
Come and rescue me
Come and rescue me
Come and rescue me
Come and rescue me
The lyrics to Soulja Boy's Hey Cutie are about a woman who is confident and beautiful but is hesitant to spread her wings and reach her full potential. The singer encourages her to believe in herself and her abilities, telling her that she can fly if she just takes that leap of faith. He also assures her that he is interested in her and wants to be with her romantically, telling her that he is going to do what he can to make her happy.
The chorus is a repetition of the phrase "super sexy," emphasizing the woman's confidence and beauty. The singer repeats this phrase to reinforce his admiration for the woman and to make her feel good about herself. He also encourages her to move in a way that's unpredictable and exciting, noting that he enjoys watching her dance and move.
Overall, Hey Cutie is a song that celebrates confidence, beauty, and the power of love. It encourages listeners to embrace who they are and to take risks in pursuit of their goals.
Line by Line Meaning
Super sexy
The singer finds the subject highly attractive
Girl I believe you can fly
The singer believes the subject is capable of achieving anything she sets her heart on
But you have to spread your wings
The singer encourages the subject to take risks and explore beyond her comfort zone to achieve greatness
Tell her I'm gonna take my,
The artist urges the listener to convey a message to someone else
Shorty wanna know if this is true
An unnamed person is inquisitive about something
That I'm gonna do what it do with her
The singer intends to engage in a romantic/sexual relationship with the subject
Get unpredictable
The singer desires spontaneity and excitement in their relationship
DJ won't you gonna play this song I love so
The artist asks the DJ to play a specific song that they enjoy
Get ready like
The artist advises the subject to prepare for something imminent
I like how you move
The artist is impressed by the subject's dancing/physical movements
Get out of life
The singer is seeking to escape the mundanity of their existence
I had to wait
The artist expresses patience in waiting for something they desire
Zip it while we tell her
The singer urges someone to keep quiet while they relay a message to someone else
She's super sexy
The singer reiterates their attraction to the subject
It takes no one to tell me why
The singer doesn't need anyone to explain their feelings or actions to them
I can't keep you off my head
The artist is constantly thinking about the subject
Listen baby
The artist is trying to get the subject's attention
You don't need to be in a magazine
The singer believes that the subject is already beautiful and doesn't need to be validated by external sources
You're the one, me
The singer believes that the subject is the perfect partner for them
Super sexy
The artist reiterates their attraction to the subject
You are good to me
The subject treats the artist well
Model
The artist sees the subject as a role model or inspiration
Rescue me
The singer seeks comfort, protection or support from the subject
You make me safe
The subject creates a sense of safety and comfort for the artist
Come and rescue me
The singer continually implores the subject to come to their aid
Come and rescue me
The singer continually implores the subject to come to their aid
Come and rescue me
The singer continually implores the subject to come to their aid
Come and rescue me
The artist continually implores the subject to come to their aid
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, THE ROYALTY NETWORK INC., Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RONALD JR. FEREBEE, ASKIA FOUNTAIN, TREMAINE NEVERSON, DEANDRE WAY, ALEXANDER IZQUIERDO, RONALD M. FEREBEE, TREMAINE ALDON NEVERSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Based Boy2017
This song deserved a music video ! The DeAndre Way is an underrated album !
NK Shooter
defo does!
Joseph Owusu
Based Boy2017 smile soulja boy
OfficialJJayRap
Calypso Island true
Eden Beaver
I’ll never forget this classic 💯
Brown Goddess
2019 is this is still 🔥 💜
kJ
Should’ve played this at the verses.
DreadHead_DMG
Song just randomly popped up in my head just now lol💯🔥
Mohammed Zaaeed
Samuel Smalls damn bro, wasn’t ready for that
Samuel Smalls
But what y'all ain't know was that this song was stolen from an artist in 2008 https://youtu.be/icU9lQ7RxNc