Crib Notes

THIS BOY'S LIFE: DeAndre "Soulja Boy" Way

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No longer the annoying, danced-crazed kid in the white-out-splashed sunglasses, Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em has become the reigning manchild in hip-hop’s promised land.

In recent months, the rapper/producer born DeAndre Way has suddenly morphed from the butt of jokes into one of the game’s most respected and sought-after artists. (Even hip-hop heavyweight Scarface recently labeled him “the next Russell Simmons.”)

But his fame has also brought problems, including a traumatizing robbery in December. Virtually overnight, he’s been forced to grow up.

Until recently, most industry players branded him a one-hit wonder, or worse — Ice-T accused him of single-handedly killing hip-hop. Nowadays they’re scrambling to work with him. Way says he’s in current talks with Kanye West about sharing beat-making duties for the third Soulja Boy album, The DeAndre Way, due out later this year. He says he’s already worked with Diddy and Lil Wayne on the project.

Continue reading “Suddenly, hip-hop can’t hate on Soulja Boy’s swag”

(Photo by Dan Monick)

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All right, I admit it. I was wrong about Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em. Since writing him off as a one-hit wonder and giving his latest album iSouljaBoyTellem two stars, I have played that thing more often then I’d like to admit. Especially the banger “Turn My Swag On” and his shockingly innocent/surprisingly tender ballad, “Kiss Me Thru The Phone.”

No, I don’t cry during the video when those old people start smooching each other remotely. Okay, maybe I do, but not that often. Okay, maybe often.

Both tracks are on Billboard’s top 40 right now — “Kiss Me” peaked at number three — and the songs are finding success on iTunes as well.

In defense of my rating — I’d give it 3, maybe even 4 stars if I had it to do over — I’m far from the only critic who has recently seen the light about Soulja Boy. In fact, suddenly SBT’E is turning into a bona fide critic’s darling.

“He writes unbelievably effective hooks, which he rattles off as if he were seeing them for the first time on a teleprompter,” gushed Village Voice writer Zach Baron recently. All of the sudden the word “genius” is being bandied around to describe someone whom critics had absolutely no patience for during “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”’s peak.

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