In a few short years, Soulja Boy has done more than most rappers do in a lifetime. He first exploded onto the scene in 2007 with "Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)"—a massive hit which sparked a dance craze, a new era of viral marketing, and was nominated for a Grammy. Since that time, SB has routinely been blamed for ruining hip-hop, but all the while, the hits kept pouring in. His debut album, Souljaboytellem.com, was certified platinum and his second album, ISouljaBoyTellem, (after an initial stutter) managed to score some big hits and proved that Soulja was no fluke.
Right when it seemed like we'd all have to get used to Soulja Boy sticking around, everything changed. SB's last album, The DeAndre Way, which dropped late last year, only spawned one hit (the infectious "Pretty Boy Swag") and sold less than 14,000 in its first week. Since the undeniable L—which was compounded by Kat Stacks and her infamous video shot in Soulja's hotel room with lines of cocaine on the dresser—he has been plotting his way back to the winner's circle. SB's released two mixtapes this year, including his Juice mixtape which dropped on 4/20. Once again, Soulja is looking to build his buzz using the Internet, so we got on the horn with the head of the Stacks On Deck Money Gang to discuss his new mixtape and mini-movie, his friend and fellow S.O.D. member Lil B, and what went wrong with his last album.
As told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)
On the disappointing sales of The DeAndre Way
“Honestly, I felt like that was one of the best albums in my career. But when the sales came, I just felt like that reflected something that was going on personally in my life. A lot of people don’t know that ‘Pretty Boy Swag’ went platinum and it was a Billboard Top 10 hit. I felt like I should have dropped my album at the peak of ‘Pretty Boy Swag.’ But I dropped the album so far after that. Because after that, ‘Blowing Me Kisses’ performed well and ‘Speakers Going Hammer’ was a hit, but it really didn’t do what ‘Pretty Boy Swag’ did.
On problems with Mr. Collipark
“A lot of people didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes with my team, the record label, and people in my camp. When I was going through the release of my album, I was going through internal situations between me and Mr. Collipark. He wasn’t really on-board with the project. He didn’t have any tracks on the album like he did on the previous albums, so that caused certain things to happen.
On getting advice from 50 Cent
“[I stopped Twittering when my sales came back because] I just needed to take a break. I needed to think about things. I needed to evaluate my camp and what was going on in my circle. I had to talk to my family, the label, and my management. I had a big talk with the big bruh 50 Cent. I’m going to forever thank 50 because he guided me. When I was at my lowest point in my career and I just felt like I ain’t really want to do this music no more. I was like, ‘Man, I’m still young. I made enough money.’ My head was on a whole different radar, but he was like, ‘Man, you tripping little bro. You’ve got to keep it going.'
On Kat Stacks
After that, I was going through some personal things in my career that I had never been through before and it was being displayed in public. I just felt like the bitch [Kat Stacks] tried to end me. [Laughs.] She set me up on some dirty shit and she tried to frame me. I felt like she swayed a lot of people’s opinions and I just felt like the bitch tried to end me. She set me up in front of the whole world. My true fans were riding with me throughout and I got through it. But it just goes to show you’ve got to be careful out here man. Motherfuckers will try to end you. I’m a young, positive black male, just trying to do good. I ain’t shooting people and I ain’t selling drugs. I’m making good music, trying to do something good, and she comes in with some foul-ass shit like that. It’ll just mess you up for a little bit. But you grow, you learn, and you get through it. The lesson you take from that is fuck these bitches. [Laughs.]
On Juice mixtape & mini-movie
“This tape is basically talking about how I’ve got the most juice in the rap game. It all started last month when I was in my crib in Los Angeles and I was watching Juice. And Tupac, he just turned up in the movie so hard, he just went in. After I got done watching the movie, I said I’m going to name my next mixtape Juice.
On S.O.D. artist Lil B and his I’m Gay album
“Lil B is with Stacks on Deck Money Gang. I signed Lil B at the end of ‘09. Everybody that’s signed to S.O.D.M.G., they have 100% creativity over their own projects. When I first started working with Lil B, I knew the position he was in. I knew he was already coming off of a major when he was with The Pack, and he was a solo artist as Lil B the Based God. His music was weird and different—but I’ve got an ear for what the young people are going to like, so I believed in B. He’s doing his thing.
