Soulja Boy - "king of mixtapes", musician. He has over 50 mixtapes recorded from 2007 to the present.
Soulja Boy is a highly controversial figure in American rap music. A person around whom conflicts and criticism constantly flare up. In a nutshell, he is a rapper, songwriter, dancer and sound producer.
The Beginning of DeAndre Way's Musical Career
DeAndre Way was born on July 28, 1990 in Chicago (USA). At the age of 6, his family had already moved to permanent residence in Atlanta. It was here that he began to actively study rap music and be interested in everything connected with it.
However, at the age of 14, together with his father, he moved to the small town of Batesville. Here the father learned about his son's interest in music. Seeing real interest, he gave him the opportunity to record songs in a music studio at the age of 14.
At the age of 15, the boy posted songs on the Sound Click website, where he received many positive reviews. Hip-hop fans liked the beginnings of the young rapper. So he created his YouTube channel and MySpace page.
In early 2007, the song Crank That appeared on the network. Then came the first album (mixtape) Unsigned & Still Major: Da Album Before da Album.
This made the musician visible in the professional environment. A few months later he was noticed by a major label Interscope Records. So the first contract of the musician with a large company was signed. It happened at the age of 16.
For the next three years, Soulja successfully released releases on Interscope Records. Albums souljaboytellemcom, iSouljaBoyTellEm, The DeAndre Way were released once a year, but enjoyed mediocre commercial success.
In addition, the musician released one independent mixtape almost every two months. His "fans" are used to seeing new music every month.
Crank That: Soulja Boy's first single
The first single Crank That by the end of the year took 1st position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The musician set an absolute record and became the youngest performer who managed to reach heights at a young age.
With this track, the rapper even became a nominee for the 50th anniversary Grammy Award ceremony. She almost got the status of the best rap composition, but the musician was ahead of Kanye West.
Nevertheless, the track showed very serious sales. More than 5 million digital copies of the song have already been sold (and this is only in the United States).
Soulja Boy's career continuation
The musician has moved into the status of a young star. Many fans of rap music know him. This was facilitated by the fact that Soulja constantly collaborated with many stars of the rap scene.
So, for example, in 2010, a video clip Mean Mug was released jointly with 50 Cent. Despite the star status of the latter, the audience took the video very coldly. Criticism also fell on 50 Cent, who was accused of commercial collaboration with a "mereless" rapper.
Nevertheless, this all had a positive effect on the career of a young rapper. Tensions regarding his personality increased along with his popularity. New releases showed excellent sales.
2013: End of Soulja Boy contact
From 2010 to 2013 the musician released mixtapes, but failed to create a full-fledged album. At the same time, the contract with Interscope Records expired. The label showed no interest in renewing the contract.
Soulja went on a solo and label-independent voyage. Then there was an opinion that the rapper Birdman secretly signed the musician to his label. The rumors were not confirmed.
They were confirmed only by the too frequent collaboration with Lil Wayne, the face of the label. Soulja Boy featured on several tracks from I Am Not a Human Being II.
Unfortunately, since then, the rapper is no longer known for his music, but for his constant attacks on his colleagues.
So, he often mentioned rappers such as Drake, Kanye West, etc. in a negative way. In 2020, he expressed an opinion about 50 Cent, who made efforts to become an artist.
The last album Loyalty was released in 2015. Since then, the rapper has released mostly singles, mixtapes and mini-albums. Passion for mixtapes is especially characteristic of Soulja Boy.
During his career, he has released over 50 such releases. The mixtape differs from the album in a simpler approach. Music and lyrics for each track were made faster and easier. The release of the mixtape did not provide for high-profile promotional campaigns, it was rather “for their own”.
Soulja Boy is a very controversial personality in the music culture. Some believed that he revived the southern "dirty" sound and satirically ridiculed modern political and social problems in his lyrics. Others believed that the musician's work only once again reinforced and created such difficulties.
soulja boy today
At the moment, the rapper is actively recording new tracks and mixtapes, and has also shot video clips.
