Before making himself famous through his unique style, Soulja Boy had Mr. Collipark to convince. The producer who has spotted star quality in Ying Yang Twins at first looked at him with a deep frown. Collipark at one point said, "To an adult who doesn't know what's going on with him, it appears to be a fad. But if you do the research and look at the real fans, his presence is like a cult. Matter of fact, he didn't even have a single per se when I signed him. It was beyond a record; it was his whole lifestyle: how he dressed, his shades with his name on them, the shoes he chose to wear. It was all of that and the music was another part of what he brought to the table. Part of Soulja's magic that blew him up, even before I got to him, was that the kids looked at his music as something that was just theirs. It was something they could have that nobody else could have." Soulja, now needs no further assurance that he's in it to be big.
Soulja, known as DeAndre Wade when he was still anonymous, was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 28, 1990 but has been moving a couple of times due to his parents' separation. At 6 years old, the rapper moved to Atlanta with his mother and little brother but only to endure a very harsh life. Although he was financially poor, Soulja never failed to find attraction of the city that offers thick music influence. "I ain't have nothing to do, just go to school," Soulja recalled. "I used to be real smart, a straight A student. But music affected my grades, I ain't gonna lie." It was there that he met rapper Young Kwon and got introduced to the music world. Kwon taught him to make beats and even recorded his first song, an experience regarded priceless by Soulja. However, monetary problem kept pressing in and while he was in eight grade of Batesville's South Panola High School, his father took him to live in Mississippi.
Thinking that he had left his opportunity to be a musician behind, Soulja never expected that it took more than just talent to reach success in music industry. With better condition, Soulja was able to access the Internet which proved to be very effective in catapulting his career. Through the technology, he started recording songs, movements, and videos with a camera which he later sent him first surge of fame. Together with Arab, he went professional by forming a hip-hop duo called The 30/30 Boys and hiring Michael Sykes aka Miami Mike as their manager."First we uploaded songs to SoundClick, where people can comment on your songs, rate them, and download them," Soulja explained on his attempt to claim fame. "We were getting good responses, so I set up my website, www.souljaboytellem.com to help push my name."
He was then gearing a solo career while retaining Arab as a close friend. Already gaining Internet success, Soulja took the next step to make his name more sonorous. Moving back to Atlanta in 2004, he met manager Derrick Crooms who is also behind Ying Yang Twins' success. It was through him that Soulja tasted his first live gig, taking place at a teen nightclub in Indianapolis, Indiana. "The first time I stepped onstage was wild," he said. "The show was so crunk that I was worried about doing a wack show. But then I just calmed down and did it." After that Collipark began to notice him and through Collipark Music Imprint, Soulja was signed to Interscope. From then on, he has been releasing several mixtapes like Soulja Boy 2005, Soulja Boy 2006, Dem 30/30 Boyz, and most recently, Stacks On Deck. Still in the starting line of his career, Soulja has Collipark's confidence. "He's really an entertainer," Collipark said. "His stage show is phenomenal. I put his stage show up against anybody, right now, and At the same time "Crank Dat Soulja Boy" scalding radio outlets, a full-length album called "SouljaBoytellem.com" is being prepared to shake hip-hop culture the end of this year. The first single 'Crank That Soulja Boy' chart performance was actually quite astonishing. From debuting at #47 it climbed to #25 following the release of its highly anticipated video.
