Since his breakout single ‘Crank That,’ Soulja Boy has become one of the most despised MCs in hip-hop. The Atlanta artist (real name DeAndre Way) is known as a brash, arrogant and flashy character whose material does not match his ego. However, the emcee did have an undeniable impact on rap music.
Songs such as ‘Crank That,’ ‘Donk,’ and ‘Turn My Swag On’ revolutionised hip-hop with dance-orientated lyrics and simple beats that made his rap style particularly appealing to young children. Produced by Way, ‘Crank That’ with its famous “Superman” line, birthed a new hip-hop style reminiscent of crunk, where the song had multiple calls to action that engaged audiences significantly.
Soulja Boy was a product of the MySpace era and early YouTube age when songs such as ‘Chicken Noodle Soup’ by Young B and ‘Donk’ ran rampant around the internet. They appealed to a highly young demographic that wanted to have fun and learn dance moves instead of hearing gangsta rap.
However, after 2006, Soulja Boy failed to keep up in many ways. Following the MySpace days, as record labels began to manipulate internet algorithms to their own advantage, the possibility of Way succeeding with low-quality, frivolous dance-along tracks was slim, and he needed reinvention.
Unfortunately, Way managed to sustain his relevance through internet shenanigans. Soulja Boy’s pastime has been goading successful artists on the internet and undermining the musical ability of his peers. However, it has been a successful tactic for the 33-year-old musician.
In an appearance on The Breakfast Club in 2019, Way claimed that Drake had ripped off his lyrical style and insisted that he made the Canadian’s career. Citing Drake’s cadence on the 2010 Lil Wayne collaboration ‘Miss Me,’ and highlighting the similarities to his own song ‘What’s Hannenin,’ Soulja Boy screamed, “Stop playing me like I ain’t teach Drake everything he know! He copied my whole flow. Word for word, bar for bar. Don’t act like I didn’t make Drake.”
Soulja Boy also notoriously taunted Tyga for his alleged lack of talent. Irrespective of his mischief-making, Way has remained somewhat current and in a 2021 interview with the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, Soulja was asked to name his top ten rappers of all time. You can see his picks in the list below.
Soulja Boy’s 10 favourite rappers of all time:
- 50 Cent
- Gucci Mane
- Jay-Z
- Lil Wayne
- Soulja Boy
- YoungBoy NBA
- Future
- Drake
- Chief Keef
- Lil Baby
