Soulja Boy
Soulja Boy |
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DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28 1990 in Chicago, Illinois), better known by his stage name Soulja Boy, is an American rapper. In September 2007, his single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He produced his whole album Souljaboytellem.com using just FL Studio.[1]
Early life and music career
At age six, Way moved to Atlanta, Georgia[2], where he developed a love for rap music alongside his then partner Young Kwon, who taught him how to make beats and record songs and introduced him to snap beats, according to Way.[3] While in 8th grade, he moved to Batesville, Mississippi with his father.[2] He now resides in Batesville, where he occasionally attends the football games at his old high school, South Panola High School.
Way returned to Atlanta in 2004, after having success uploading his songs on the Internet and establishing his record label Stacks on Deck Entertainment, where he paired up with Atlanta-based manager Michael "Mr. Collipark" Crooms, who had been responsible for such successes as the Ying Yang Twins.[2] Way had his first live preformance at the age of 15, at a teen nightclub in Indianapolis, Indiana. His first album named "Souljaboytellem.com" was released under Interscope Records on October 2 2007.[4]
Criticism
Soulja Boy, like many other crunk and snap music rap artists from the south, has come under criticism for his musical style. Similar to those other artists (such as D4L and Dem Franchise Boys), the main criticisms have been that his songs are low in quality lyrical content and have no real meaning or purpose. This is especially prevalent from the "Hip Hop is Dead" movement who think that modern crunk and snap music does not live up to the many great artists of the past.
Nobodysmiling.com said, "Think of Soulja Boy as sort of a Lil Jon for teenagers and pre-teens, that means don’t expect to hear much in the way of metaphors and narratives just crunk-ass music."[5]. The Daily Yo also says, "If anyone has not yet embraced the fact that hip-hop, through a main-stream perspective, is a dying breed; after listening to the musical styling of Soulja Boy in his debut album, Souljaboytellem.com., I'm sure that the truth will become evident." [6]. The Review says "Soulja Boy seems to think irritating repetition mixed with loads of moans and groans are enough to replace any skillful presentation of words.", and "Soulja Boy, making no effort to persuade his audience otherwise, offers little diversions from stereotypic garbage rap lyrics." [7] Many other critics dub Soulja Boy the "Nickelback of hip hop"[8].
Although his debut album, Souljaboytellem.com, had some somewhat positive reviews (Allmusic.com gave it 3.5/5 stars), in general it has not been received well by critics. TheDailyYo gave it 1/5 stars, 411Mania 3/10, NappyAfro 1/5, Rap Reviews 3/10, and The Review 0.5/5.
Discography
Albums
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions[9] | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | U.S. R&B | U.S. Rap | CAN | |||
| 2007 | "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | Souljaboytellem.com |
| "Soulja Girl" (featuring I-15) | 36 | 18 | – | - | ||
References
- ^ "Rap City" (September 2007). BET.
- ^ a b c Cordor, Cyril. Soulja Boy biography at All Music Guide
- ^ Soulja Boy at SoundClick
- ^ Artist Biography/Interview Biography October 15 2007.
- ^ http://www.nobodysmiling.com/hiphop/album_review/88001.php
- ^ www.thedailyyo.com
- ^ http://media.www.udreview.com/media/storage/paper781/news/2007/10/02/Mosaic/Soulja.Boy.Tell.em.souljaboytellem.com.Reviewed-3004601.shtml
- ^ http://media.www.udreview.com/media/storage/paper781/news/2007/10/02/Mosaic/Soulja.Boy.Tell.em.souljaboytellem.com.Reviewed-3004601.shtml
- ^ Artist Chart History. Billboard. Accessed October 9 2007.
- http://www.nobodysmiling.com/hiphop/album_review/88001.php
- http://www.thedailyyo.com
- http://media.www.udreview.com/media/storage/paper781/news/2007/10/02/Mosaic/Soulja.Boy.Tell.em.souljaboytellem.com.Reviewed-3004601.shtml