Soulja Boy and Lil Xan

Born in the American midwest of Chicago, Illinois, Soulja Boy moved to Atlanta, Georgia when he was six and later Batesville, Mississippi at age 14. It was in Mississippi that Way immersed himself in rap music and culture and began recording his ideas, some of which the rapper uploaded in 2005 on the website SoundClick. Soulja Boy’s debut album “Unsigned & Still Major” was independently released on Palmtree Productions in March 2007 and by May that year his single “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” was receiving steady radio play.

The rapper subsequently inked a deal with Interscope Records and had his single “Crank That” appear on the Emmy-Award winning TV series “Entourage”. The single went on to top the Billboard 200, and made way for Soulja Boy’s major-label debut “souljaboytellthem.com”, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Despite critical reviews from the musical press, the record sold remarkably well aided by the subsequent singles “Soulja Girl”, “Yahh!”, and “Donk”.

Soulja Boy’s sophomore full-length “iSouljaBoyTellem” was issued in December 2008 once again earning disappointing reviews despite popular singles. The record’s lead single “Bird Walk” charted at No. 40, followed by the Billboard Hot 100 No. 3 single “Kiss Me Thru the Phone”. The rapper subsequently embarked on his debut headlining tour entitled “America’s Most Wanted”, and began increasingly to tour the world over. The studio album “The DeAndre Way” followed in November 2010 however was marked by a lack of promotion and appropriate label consideration. Despite earning his best reviews to date and presenting a much more personal and candid album, the record charted at No. 90 on the Billboard 200.

The rapper’s next release, the mixtape “Smooky”, was released independently in 2010, after which he collaborated with rapper Young L on the mixtape “Mario & Domo vs. the World. The subsequent mixtape, 2013’s “Foreign”, sparked rumours suggestingg Soulja Boy was making a move to Cash Money Records, however the rapper’s fourth full-length “Loyalty” was ultimately released on his own label Stacks on Decks Entertainment.