Soulja Boy

American rapper Soulja Boy broke onto the music scene in 2007 with his breakout hit “Crank That.” Reaching the coveted number one slot on the Billboard Hot 100, Soulja Boy is proving a formidable up and comer. He has received a lot of resistance, however, from critics and audiences who question his originality, talent, and musical style.

DeAndre Ramone Way, known popularly as Soulja Boy or Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, was born July 28, 1990 in Chicago, Illinois. When he was six years old, Way and his father moved to Atlanta, Georgia. It was here he was first introduced to the rap culture. His interest was piqued immediately.

By the age of fourteen, he had moved again to Batesville, Mississippi. After eight years of interest in rap, Way’s father was convinced that his son’s interest could translate into a real career. Therefore, at age fourteen, Way was given a personal recording studio to further his musical experiments.

In late 2005, Way began posting the products of those experiments on the website SoundClick. He received a lot of positive feedback from his fellow users, and this spurred a MySpace page and several YouTube posts. Going the self-published route for his single “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” the song took off. It went on to become number one on the charts, and surprising many, it stayed there. In fact, it performed this well for seven separate weeks.

It was even featured in an episode of the HBO hit series Entourage with Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Perrey Reeves, and Jeremy Piven.

His independent album, Unsigned and Still Major, was released alongside a video, which featured Way’s distinctive dance. This has since been dubbed the “Soulja Boy” dance.

With the success of his single, Way was signed to Interscope Records, and his album, which is entitled Souljaboytellem.com, was released on October 2, 2007. Since that release, the album peaked at number 26 and has been certified gold.

His other single is “Soulja Girl,” which went to number 32 on the charts. His next single, “Yahhh” is set for a 2008 release. The track features fellow rapper Arab.

Increasing his exposure, Way has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Last Call with Carson Daly.

Despite Way’s commercial success, he has a long way to go before he wins over rap’s biggest names. Artists such as Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, and 50 Cent are critical of Way and his particular brand of music. They decry the work as pandering to the cell phone ring tone market and being marked by mindless, catchy beats without any message to back up the music.

Way has responded to these allegations by stating the intent of his music is to create upbeat party music that dispels the negative images that usually pervades hip hop music.

But Way received more than criticism on December 9, 2007 when he was sued by William Lyons over his stage name. Lyons claims he created and had exclusive right to the name “Souljah Boy,” which Way knowingly adopted.