Review Summary: Ayyyy Soulja Boy Chillin Dog I Just Got My Report Card Looked At It All F's Took It To Tha Teacher Desk (Throw Some D's On That Bitch)
Soulja Boy. He's a dancer, a producer, and a rapper (debatable) all in one. His music belongs in the club, and also pounding relentlessly against my eardrums. He embodies the club-rap genre and is its infrastructure. Sugary, catchy beats - lyrics that encourage such behavior as one would exemplify in da club. For someone who's as famous as he is because of YouTube, his debut album isn't half bad.
The tracks all have a very similar atmosphere. From "Crank Dat" to the almost hilariously cliche' "Soulja Girl", Souljaboytellem.com is what it is. Bass-heavy and lyrically sparse, the album was obviously designed to be played almost solely in a club setting, and/or blaring out of somebodies phone speakers. Soulja Boy is a master of his craft, and we all know that, because of his massive sales for Crank Dat (which has achieved the title of the most downloaded ringtone in history thus far). Luckily for Soulja, his target demographic (club going, high school attending teenagers) is very common in his home country (of America), which even I can vouch for. So as a businessman, Soulja Boy is intelligent. And what is the big time music industry but a business?
What I like about Soulja and companies lyrics is that they are honest. He isn't trying to address a struggling youth with words of encouragement while sitting on millions that he's kept for himself, and he isn't trying to pass his music off as something other than it is. Here is an example from "Report Card":
I Alwayz Be In School But I Be Walkin Halls. Alot Of Teachers Give Me Test But They Be Super Hard I Get Into Some Trouble Then My Mama Calls But Afta I Get Out The Office Ima Tell Em All Dat Ima Superstar And Thatz Best. Everytime U See Me Up In Class My Head On That Desk. And When U See Me On Dem Girls U Kno That Im Super Fresh. Yea Teacher, Students, Class, Stupid
As deep as a kiddie pool, yes. But Soulja Boy is a teenager - he was 16 when this album came out. Why wouldn't he be stressing about his report card? Well...I suppose he wouldn't be after he just made millions off this album. But that was after the lyrics were even conceived.
Soulja Boy is a
great producer. Songs like "She Thirsty", "Sidekick", "Donk", and the final track "Don't Get Mad" are all fine examples of what to do when you're designing a song for the dance-floor. In the heat of the club, brushing up against good-looking sweaty people of both sexes with "She Gotta Donk!" blasting throughout the facility, its easy to get caught up in the beat and start dancing regardless of who the DJ spins. Perhaps his music takes advantage of a man or woman in heat, who have come to this place to do nothing but dance and drink. But even outside of the club his music is fun enough. Good driving tunes, all mostly because his beats are outrageously catchy. But the beats would definitely be terribly boring without
some sort of narration. We need to know there is life on the mic, at least. And Soulja and company bring it even further than that - not much further, though lyrically, this album was never supposed to go very far.
I think you get the point. Soulja Boy has been hammered with negative criticism mostly on first glance. You can't even deny the fact that there are thousands, perhaps millions, that took one look at the cover of this album or heard "Crank Dat" once, and swore themselves off Soulja Boy for life without even thinking twice. Now, I'm not saying he's a more complicated artist than other club-rappers when dissected (musically). But his articulation and passion for his genre is endless. It would also be keen to remember that a 16 year old and a bunch of his 15-16 year old friends wrote this album. I don't like to use age as a measurement of quality, but with some people, its obvious that they aren't getting the proper education they should be receiving, whether on account of their environment or of their own accord. Conclusively, I would recommend this album to anybody who enjoys a nice pop song.
Now, all of you hataz: See Soulja Boy use his cash-money for generous purposes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh-WIimhagA
