(Credit: Dave Hill)
We caught up with Atlanta’s newest rap star to talk about his recent cameo on the American Music Awards, his current tour with Chris Brown and how even Ellen is encouraging people to pick up his debut album, “Souljaboytellem.com.”
How long did it take you to develop the “Crank That” dance?
It just took one day. The whole song, the dance…everything was in one day. [I] upload it to the YouTube…right now it’s like at 22 million views.
Obviously it’s harder to do than it looks. Jimmy Kimmel didn’t do too well with it.
Yeah, that was crazy, man…the American Music Awards. Jimmy Kimmel, he tried to crank it, but… [Laughs] He did his best, though.
I gotta say, speaking as a guy who’s even whiter than Jimmy, the Superman move is my favorite part.
Yeah. [Laughs] That’s the easiest part.
I can understand you doing shows like “Last Call” and “Jimmy Kimmel,” but I was surprised to see that you were on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show.” How’d that go? It seems like it wouldn’t really be your audience.
Yeah, I did the show, and e’rybody in the whole audience—I mean like old, old, old ladies—e’rybody was doing the dance and singing the song word for word. And I was like, “Woah-kay. OK, we got it. I’m on.” And Ellen was like, “Is everybody gonna buy the CD?” And they was like, “Yeah!” And I was like, “OK!”
I thought it was a pretty smart move on your part to name the CD after your Web site. I’m surprised more people don’t do that.
I mean, I did that because that’s where all my success came from. I had to name my CD that. It’s like, everything is accumulating into one, you know what I’m saying? You go buy the CD, you’re going to the Web site. You go to the Web site, you’re gonna go buy the CD.
It was really getting access to your dad’s computer that got you started, right?
Of course. I used the YouTube to my advantage, the MySpace to my advantage, and they got me to where I’m at today. If I record a video today [and] upload it to YouTube, it’d probably get, like, 200,000 views before the day’s over.
When did you first start putting your name on your shades?
It was like my second year of high school. I was in class and my teacher had some Wite-Out on her desk. And I wrote my name on ‘em and e’rybody was laughing at me or whatever. But after that, I made it look good, and e’rybody started to wanna do it. And now I sell ‘em on my Web site—souljaboystore.com. We sell like 100 units a day.
How did you get the name Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em?
The name Soulja Boy—that was my childhood nickname. My mom called me that all the time. And every song that I recorded, I’d say “Soulja Boy, tell ‘em” before I started rapping. And after that my fans…they just kept saying it, so I just changed my name to Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em.
So if you’re a soldier, what are you fighting for?
I’m fighting for respect. And money.
Musically, do you have other influences outside of snap and crunk and Southern hip-hop?
I listen to Kanye West and 50 Cent, but that’s about it.
Who do you think is a better dancer, you or Chris Brown?
I couldn’t really say that, because the way I dance is, like, down South, you know what I’m saying? “Lean Wit It,” “Walk It Out” and stuff that I make up. And his dance is all choreographed…he’s like, on the Michael Jackson stuff. So I can’t really compare the two.
Got any other dance routines up your sleeve?
I got a couple…but I’m just gonna wait until the “Crank That” kinda dies out a little bit more before I release it.
