Supersoakin’ hip-hop with Soulja Boy

Music | August 7th, 2014

Seven years ago DeAndre Cortez Way, a.k.a. Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, was responsible for attracting millions of people to dance floors at clubs and parties all over the country. His chart-topping tune, “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” became one of the most popular line dances in hip-hop history.

“Being in high school, I just wanted to have a song on the radio that people could dance to, that people could remember,” Way said to HPR.

While there a number of popular dance songs, there’s much lesser amount of popular dance songs with an easy-to-catch-on dance. With slangish, lyrical dance instructions like “superman that ho” and a slow, thick and obvious beat, this 16-year-old boy’s infectious dance earned him fame and fortune that an extremely low number of teens his age reach.

“It was like all my dreams came true – everything came through for me,” he said. “Over 10 million people bought the song. Everybody knew my dance. It was crazy. It was fun.”

The now 24-year-old rapper said he’s on to “making better music, better lyrics, harder beats and just stepping my game up all around as an artist, rapper and producer.”

It’s tough to say whether he’ll reach the kind of success he did as a teen. He’s went on to make a few other dance tunes and non-dance singles, but so far none of them have come close to the success of “Crank That.”

Soulja’s first show in Fargo this Saturday, August 16 will be in promotion of his latest record “King Soulja 3,” which is very much in the style of his older material but with even more experimental lyrical phrasings and almost b-side/underground sounding beats.

“I really don’t write. I just get in a booth. I play a bit and go straight off the top and do a record,” Way said to HPR.

The aesthetic of Soulja Boy’s music takes on its own wild personality because of his free spirited, but rough and tough, style.

He said working and communicating with artists like Puff (Daddy) and Kanye West has made him a better artist and influenced his work and life direction.

“I just want to be the best in the industry,” Way said. “Be one of the top CEOs, sign some of the best talent and make my history in the music game. Just promote loyalty. Promote positivity.”

Fargo fans can expect Soulja to bring his A-game to the Venue.

“It’s gonna be hella turned up, man,” Way said. “You can expect a great performance. I’m going to give the crowd their money's worth – interacting with the fans, give them the best show.”

IF YOU GO

Soulja Boy with Triz, Stan Cass and Coolie

Sat, Aug. 16, 8 p.m. (doors @ 7 p.m.)

The Venue, 2525 9th Ave SW, Fargo

Jadepresents.com

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