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.
Look @ Me
Soulja Boy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Crank Dat Soulja Boy
Y U Trippin 4 Im On Da Dance Flo
I Got A Brand New Dance For My Fans Folk
U Already Kno, Wut Da Buisness Be
Front Right Left Snap And Dey Diggin Me
Now U Kno Its On
Dey Start To Dance Even When Dey Hear Da Ring Tone
Now U Can Look At Me
Daz A B.E.T
I Gottem Jumpin In Da Club When Dey Hear Da Beat...
Now Look At Him, Now Look At Me
He Doin My Dance All Wrong, Un Huh He Cant Get Like Me
Im Clean In Dis Thang Soulja Boy Yeah Im Super Fresh
It's D.H.B Stupid Read Da Name Across My Patnaz Chest
Dey Hatin So Hard And They Do Wanna Stop It
But Dey Can't Do It So All Dey Do Is Copy
My Name On My Shades So Its Fame On My Frames
Im Bout To Rock So Hard Dat My Neck Be In Pain
Im Bout To Do Dis Dance, All On Da Flo
And Ima Crank Dis Dance To My Big Toe Swole
First Im Jig Slo, Den Im Lean Fast
Den Ima Crank Dat Shootout And Let My Hands Blast
Den Ima Switch It Up And Crank Da Roosevelt
And Pool Palace To Da Flo Like Nobody Else
And Now Dey Askin Me How U Dat Dance
I Show Em One Time Urrbody Doin My Dance
In the song "Look @ Me" by Soulja Boy, the artist is boasting about his latest dance moves and encouraging his fans to join him on the dance floor. Through the lyrics, Soulja Boy highlights the popularity of his music and dance moves, stating that everyone starts to dance when his song comes on. He then goes on to detail the specific dance moves that he created, including front, right, left, and snap.
Soulja Boy uses the lyrics to make it clear that he is original and that others are just trying to copy him. He incorporates his team or group, DHB, into the song and mentions how everyone is trying to imitate his unique style. Soulja Boy emphasizes his status as a trendsetter by stating that his name is on his shades, signifying that he is a celebrity everywhere he goes.
Line by Line Meaning
Look At Me, Now Look At Me
I am drawing attention to myself and commanding others to look at me
Crank Dat Soulja Boy
I am encouraging my fans to perform my signature dance move
Y U Trippin 4 Im On Da Dance Flo
Why are you getting upset? I am on the dance floor
I Got A Brand New Dance For My Fans Folk
I have come up with a new dance move for my fans to perform
U Already Kno, Wut Da Buisness Be
You should already know what my business is
Front Right Left Snap And Dey Diggin Me
When I snap my fingers in these directions, my fans love it
Now U Kno Its On
It is clear that I am about to perform and entertain
When Dey Play Dis Song
When this song is played
Dey Start To Dance Even When Dey Hear Da Ring Tone
People cannot resist dancing when they hear this song, even if it is just a ringtone
Now U Can Look At Me
Now you can direct your attention to me once again
Daz A B.E.T
This is a reference to Black Entertainment Television, a network known for playing music videos and promoting black culture
I Gottem Jumpin In Da Club When Dey Hear Da Beat...
My music and dance moves are so popular that people start jumping when they hear the beat in the club
Now Look At Him, Now Look At Me
I am pointing out that someone else is attempting to perform my dance, but can't do it like me
He Doin My Dance All Wrong, Un Huh He Cant Get Like Me
I am stating that the other person cannot perform my dance move as well as I can
Im Clean In Dis Thang Soulja Boy Yeah Im Super Fresh
I am emphasizing that I am confident and fashionable in this situation
It's D.H.B Stupid Read Da Name Across My Patnaz Chest
My friend's shirt has my name on it, and everyone should be able to see that
Dey Hatin So Hard And They Do Wanna Stop It
People are jealous of my success and want to see me fail
But Dey Can't Do It So All Dey Do Is Copy
They are unable to come up with something original, so they copy me instead
My Name On My Shades So Its Fame On My Frames
My name is on my sunglasses, so my fame is always with me
Im Bout To Rock So Hard Dat My Neck Be In Pain
I am going to perform so enthusiastically that I might hurt my neck
Im Bout To Do Dis Dance, All On Da Flo
I am going to perform my dance move on the floor
And Ima Crank Dis Dance To My Big Toe Swole
I am going to perform my dance move so hard that my big toe will be swollen
First Im Jig Slo, Den Im Lean Fast
I will start off with a slower move, and then quickly lean to the side
Den Ima Crank Dat Shootout And Let My Hands Blast
I will perform another move, which involves shooting my hands out
Den Ima Switch It Up And Crank Da Roosevelt
I will change to a different move, called the Roosevelt
And Pool Palace To Da Flo Like Nobody Else
I will then perform the Pool Palace move like no one else can
And Now Dey Askin Me How U Dat Dance
People are asking me how I can perform my dance moves so well
I Show Em One Time Urrbody Doin My Dance
I demonstrate how to do my dance move one time, and then everyone is doing it
Contributed by Elena A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.