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Biography
Born in the American midwest of Chicago, Illinois, Soulja Boy moved to Atlanta, Georgia when he was six and later Batesville, Mississippi at age 14. It was in Mississippi that Way immersed himself in rap music and culture and began recording his ideas, some of which the rapper uploaded in 2005 on the website SoundClick. Soulja Boy’s debut album “Unsigned & Still Major” was independently released on Palmtree Productions in March 2007 and by May that year his single “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” was receiving steady radio play.
The rapper subsequently inked a deal with Interscope Records and had his single “Crank That” appear on the Emmy-Award winning TV series “Entourage”. The single went on to top the Billboard 200, and made way for Soulja Boy’s major-label debut “souljaboytellthem.com”, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Despite critical reviews from the musical press, the record sold remarkably well aided by the subsequent singles “Soulja Girl”, “Yahh!”, and “Donk”.
Soulja Boy’s sophomore full-length “iSouljaBoyTellem” was issued in December 2008 once again earning disappointing reviews despite popular singles. The record’s lead single “Bird Walk” charted at No. 40, followed by the Billboard Hot 100 No. 3 single “Kiss Me Thru the Phone”. The rapper subsequently embarked on his debut headlining tour entitled “America’s Most Wanted”, and began increasingly to tour the world over. The studio album “The DeAndre Way” followed in November 2010 however was marked by a lack of promotion and appropriate label consideration. Despite earning his best reviews to date and presenting a much more personal and candid album, the record charted at No. 90 on the Billboard 200.
The rapper’s next release, the mixtape “Smooky”, was released independently in 2010, after which he collaborated with rapper Young L on the mixtape “Mario & Domo vs. the World. The subsequent mixtape, 2013’s “Foreign”, sparked rumours suggestingg Soulja Boy was making a move to Cash Money Records, however the rapper’s fourth full-length “Loyalty” was ultimately released on his own label Stacks on Decks Entertainment.
Live reviews
I started listening to Soulja Boy in December for the first time since "Crank Dat" came out in 2007, and I realized how much I started actually liking his music. I tweeted about how he was the "best rapper alive" and people thought I was being funny, but I genuinely liked him. When I found out he was coming to Portland, I was so excited and there was no question about me going or not. I would be there, front row, when he came to Portland. A couple days before the concert, I started thinking about how it would actually be. I guessed not many people would be there (there weren't, but they were the best crowd I had ever witnesses), and I thought the people that WERE going would go as a joke. But when I got into the concert, I immediately pushed myself to front row and stayed there the whole concert.
The opening acts played longer than I wanted, but it was all to set up for the energy Soulja Boy would bring out. At about 10:30, Soulja Boy jumped out, bursting with swag, blunt in hand, smoke coming out his mouth. I couldn't believe that I was actually watching the Man Who Invented Swag perform live!!! He opened with a song he had released just 5 hours earlier, "Movie", off of his upcoming mixtape "Trap King October." He screamed "PORTLAND OREGON" and the crowd went wild. It was the coolest thing I had ever witnessed.
He played some songs off of his latest album, "King Soulja 3", like "Bentley Truck", "Gas", "Bugatti", & "Tony Hawk". Then he played his hit songs, like "Pretty Boy Swag", "Kiss Me Thru the Phone", "Turn My Swag On", "Gucci Bandana", "We Made It", and of course, "Crank Dat". Everyone loved it, we were all screaming every single word, dancing, pushing each other trying to get closer to the stage. He played for about an hour and a half, and after promising Portland that he would come back every time he goes on tour, he asked "now who wants to come get a picture with Soulja?" I couldn't believe how cool he was to his fans. I waited to get a picture with the Legend Himself, but the people I went with wanted to get home and I was their ride, so I didn't get the chance :( THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU NEED TO GET FROM MY REVIEW IS YOU *MUST* GO TO A SOULJA BOY CONCERT AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE. Even if you bashed on him for making "trash rap" and "destroying hip-hop", you will be surprised at the quality of his concert. It is impossible to have a bad time at a Soulja Boy concert, and you need to go to see for yourself! ★★★★★
Jwanaka
It seems bizarre to think that Soulja Boy - Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, to give him his full street name, or DeAndre Cortez Way as he’s known at home - has only just turned twenty-four; he seems to have been around an age, with his global smash ‘Crank That (Soulja Boy)’ topping the charts in the U.S. and falling just short, at number two, in the UK, as long ago as 2007. He made a ton of cash of the back of that success, too, placing eighteenth on Forbes’ list of Hip Hop Cash Kings in 2010 with seven million dollars in earnings. His debut record went platinum, but the two follow-ups have failed to meet with as much success; you have to think that his fourth album, due later this year, could be make-or-break for the rapper. He’s continued to play live in the years since, performing tracks like ‘Turn My Swag On’ whilst flanked by a frankly unnecessary entourage and with little sign of anything in the way of a backing band, there have been accusations of his gigs amounting to little more than glorified karaoke. He’s likely to go all out on promotion for the new album, though, so expect his first UK dates in three years to follow shortly.
Joeg_67
