# Soulja Boy Soulja Boy is the online alias of Atlanta rapper DeAndre Cortez Way, whose 2007 breakout 'Crank That (Soulja Boy)' turned him into an early YouTube-era hitmaker and, a decade later, into a recurring internet meme figure. A December 2018 launch of rebranded emulator consoles and a January 2019 Breakfast Club rant about Drake produced some of the most-quoted lines of that stretch. ## Origin DeAndre Cortez Way started uploading tracks to SoundClick in 2005 and posted his first YouTube video on March 15th, 2006[1]. His single 'Crank That (Soulja Boy),' released May 2nd, 2007, spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and picked up a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song[1]. A November 22nd, 2009 re-upload of the official music video has since passed 375 million views on YouTube[5]. - **Platform:** YouTube (early career) / Twitter (viral meme spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2007 ## Overview The Soulja Boy meme cluster pulls from two eras of his career. The first is the 'Crank That' dance craze around 2007 and 2008, when the song's simple choreography spawned endless YouTube parodies and dance uploads[1]. The second wave hit in late 2018 through early 2019, when a stretch of dubious product launches and combative interview quotes gave the internet fresh material to work with[2]. The most-quoted line from the console fiasco is 'Nintendo ain't gon do SHIT,' a tweet Soulja Boy fired off after critics warned his SouljaGame handheld could bring lawsuits[3]. A few weeks later on The Breakfast Club, his 'Drake? DRAKE?! The n***a that got bodied by Pusha-T?' delivery became the 'Draaake?!' screenshot that Instagram accounts spent January 2019 captioning with phrasal templates[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Soulja Boy? Soulja Boy is the stage name of American rapper DeAndre Cortez Way, best known for the 2007 hit 'Crank That (Soulja Boy)' and for a run of viral moments in 2018 and 2019 that turned him into a meme figure[1]. ### Where did Soulja Boy come from? He built an early online following by uploading songs to SoundClick starting in 2005 and posted his first YouTube video on March 15th, 2006[1]. ### What does Soulja Boy mean? In meme use, 'Soulja Boy' points to the rapper's specific persona of confident and unfiltered quotes, from 'Crank That' era catchphrases to lines like 'Nintendo ain't gon do SHIT' during the SouljaGame console launch[3]. ### How do you use Soulja Boy? The 'Draaake?!' Breakfast Club screenshot is typically paired with a phrasal template that mimics his shocked delivery, and image macros of his console tweets are often used to caption confident or defiant statements[4]. ### Is Soulja Boy still popular? His 2018 to 2019 press run stayed a reference point online and offline, with the January 2019 Breakfast Club mural in San Antonio drawing coverage from Complex, Uproxx and other outlets[4]. ## References 1. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulja_Boy]() 2. [https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/12/05/souljaboy-is-selling-some-kind-of-game-consoles-but-people-are-suspicious]() 3. [https://www.complex.com/music/2018/12/soulja-boy-nintendo-sue-me]() 4. [https://www.complex.com/music/2019/01/soulja-boy-drake-meme-immortalized-in-san-antonio-mural]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/soulja-boy]() 6. [https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/471647-soulja-boy-game-consoles-fuze-mini]() 7. [https://mtonews.com/soulja-boy-faces-10-yr-fed-prison-for-fake-game-console]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/soulja-boy Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library