Soulja Boy Blames Interscope For Disappointing Album Sales, Says 50 Cent Pushed Him To Keep Rapping

    Soulja Boy spoke with Complex recently about the lackluster reception of his third studio album The Deandre Way and how internal disagreements with Interscope influenced the album’s disappointing record sales. The young rapper asserts that the timing of the album was not good. While he wanted to release the effort in July 2010, it dropped in November, over five months after its first and most successful lead single “Pretty Boy Swag” hit the radio.

    “Honestly, I shut down for a week [after my album dropped],” He told Complex. “I wasn’t talking to nobody, I wasn’t talking to management, and I wasn’t talking to the label. I wasn’t picking up nobody’s calls. I went like that for a week. I was in a state of confusion. I needed answers…the label only shipped like 18,000 copies [of the album]. So I wasn’t able to do gold first week or even 100k, none of that. They only put like 8,000 units in Best Buy. It was crazy.”

    He said he felt helpless because communication with Interscope was lacking, and he believed the label failed to listen to him. He claims that his souring relationship with producer and mentor Mr. Collipark (who did no production work on the album) gave him less power to negotiate with record execs.

    “When I first started it was Soulja Boy and Collipark. But after my label Stacks On Deck Money Gang Records was established and I started making all these different moves, I started to become a businessman. My label was taking off and I guess I was putting more time and energy into that, then to Collipark. He wasn’t feeling that and it just went left. He wanted me to be all for Collipark. So during the third album, I didn’t have him there to be able to tell the label to ship 500,000 the first week, or put the single on the radio, or we need this song. So I was basically out there by myself, just hoping the label will do the best they can.”

    Although the two have since made amends, Soulja Boy says that if it weren’t for 50 Cent, who is featured on The Deandre Way, he would have quit rapping.

    “[50] was like, ‘You’ve got to keep doing what you’re doing. You’re Soulja Boy, you’re here for a reason. Everybody’s not going platinum. Everybody didn’t do what you did. Everybody didn’t come in on the Internet. You’re the one that started the Internet. You’re the one that got me on the Internet. You’re the one that got us on blogs, on YouTube, and on Twitter.’ I was like, ‘Man, you know what? You’re right.’ He wasn’t doing nothing but speaking true knowledge to my head and it got me right back in the studio. So I ain’t going to never quit. I’m going to stay in this music industry. I’m going to stay making hits, and I’m going to do what I’ve got to do, and I thank 50. I really needed that at that time.”

    Read the entire interview, including his thoughts on Kat Stacks and Lil B, here.

    155 thoughts on “Soulja Boy Blames Interscope For Disappointing Album Sales, Says 50 Cent Pushed Him To Keep Rapping

      1. Exactly. But come on man, 500K in the first week?! If you’re not fucking Em or Jay-z, there’s no way you can sell gold in the first week, this dude’s delusional. Oh, and yeah, your shit is straigh garbage, kid.

    1. Maybe the labels were right.. he’s just a one hit wonder.. so they shipped a few copies because that’s all he would make. To save money

    2. Fuck sake, you guys still listen do his garbage rap?

      Do da stanky leg, do da stanky leg, i lol’d so fokin hard when i heard his songs, #PUREGARBAGE!

      1. are you fucking kidding me
        let me guess your next comment is going to be
        “but hey man he’s on his hustle u gotta respect that you know real talk aye”

        fucking dumbass

    3. interscope should be ashamed of signing this piece of shit in the first place. his album sales dwindled because of a very simple reason: HE IS GARBAGE!

      and 50 cent still expects people to buy his albums while he openly supports this faggot. SMH!

    4. you flopped cause your music sucks boy, and shame on 50 for pushing a wack rapper instead of talented rapper like Saigon

      1. “shame on 50 for pushing a wack rapper instead of talented rapper like Saigon”

        yea 50s never done that, his ears r golden, he pushed tony yayo, young buck, olivia, hot rod, spider loc. thats some real talent huh man?

      2. @rite: All those artists that you mentioned except for Young Buck are garbage. Game was hot, but he had to kick him out, now he’s hangin with Shawty Lo…

    5. hhdx why do you care about this fag, he is garbage and he shouldnt blame interscope but himself! and 50 is a fag to, he should push him to retire asap!

    6. 50 should not have encouraged this kid to continue rapping, he should have just kept quiet and lil’ man would have quit rap, now that would have been good for hiphop

    7. great 50 encourage you to continue, a guy without talent tell you that, youre all in for the money not the music.

    8. … so its interscopes fault ur album didnt sell? has nothin do with ur wack as fuck, all ur fans r under 15 and download ur garbage ass ring tone tracks? rite

    9. SEE THIS IS WHAT IT IS ABOUT – LETS START BEING THE LABEL AND NOT HAVE TO COMMUNICATE WITH ANYONE BUT OUR STAFF AND OUR INNER SELF. BE THE TOP GUIDE THE BOTTOM. THIS IS GREAT NEWS MUCH RESPECT TO MR. JACKSON AND DEANDRE FOR LISTENING.

    10. Fuck 50 for getting him to continue rapping. LOL, damn. Soulja could have been long gone by now! Damn, 50 you suck balls.

    11. how the fuck is he supposed to get album sales when the majority of his fans are 14 year old broke ass dumbass girls?

      it’s not interscopes fault that soulja boy rips balls

    12. Fuck Soulja and fuck 50. They always wanna blame the labels for lack of album sales but they dont blame the fact that their music is wack. Whatever.

    13. WHO CARES!!!!!!! WHY DO GARBAGE RAPPERS ALWAYS BLAME THE LABEL WHEN THEIR GARBAGE MUSIC DOESN’T SELL!!!!!! GOOFIES!!!!!!!!

    14. “Soula call me Super Lupe Lyrical, you cant understand me nor mimic my miracles”
      Soulja should try to be more like Lupe and step his game up he is TRASH. No one wants your shitty as album go make another video about Kat Stacks

    15. please quit soulja boy, u dont understand how much rap fans hate u….ur one of the biggest disgraces to ever land in hip hop music….

    16. fuck 50cent

      we could have gotten this lame out the game!

      and SB u a bigger coke head than I thought if u think ppl want to buy your records.

      1. Do you even know the reason why Hip Hop needs help in the first place? IT’S BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE SOULJAH BOY ARE DESTROYING IT YOU FUCKING RETARD.

      1. Do you really think that Soulja Boy can be a lyricist come on….I have seen some miracles but that is like the devil helping people…that will never happen my nigga

      2. haha he tried to be real lyrical in his song “2 milli”, he sounded like a fucking retard, i think one line was “A lion wouldn’t cheat, but a Tiger Wood” and “Similar to Nas” but none of his shit was coherent in the song, it was like he was just putting one liner after one liner without making sense.

      3. Do you really think that Soulja Boy can be a lyricist come on….I have seen some miracles but that is like the devil helping people…that will never happen my nigga

        Hahahahahahahahaha ….. CLASSIC statement! You made me spill my drink reading that LMAO

    17. We all know that Soulja Boy became this big hit because of his DANCE ROUTINE. Crank Dat was all part of a DANCE movement. The MUSIC was horrible. I remember seeing people do the dance. Even when Pretty Boy Swag came out, it had a dance. What do you have when you subtract the dance out of his music? Trash.

    18. I am sure the label shipped more than 18,000 units. They were expecting better sales. This is an attempt only to blame the label and save face.

    19. I don’t know who’s worse this fuckin shitty ass nigga or that piece of shit with garbage lyricist Lil B. Man hip hop done fucked up when niggas like these guys are who gets talked about.

    20. 50 knows SB is pathetic. There’s gotta a motive behind “encouraging” him lol. Soulja is an embarrasment to hip-hop music and culture. Leave already. Go take that little money you have left and invest in real estate–and stay outta the game!

      1. Maybe 50 dont wana be topping the list of wackness so he persuades Soulja fool to continue “rapping” just so he could top the list.

        Even though i know there are a few ahead of 50…. Gucci,Wacka,Lil B etc all come to mind!

    21. 50 IS THE REASON YOU FLOPPED!!! YOU ALWAYS SUCKED BUT AT LEAST YOU WERE SELLING..

      WHEN 50 AND SOULJA BOI DID THAT EDDIE LONG & LIL B POSE ON THE COVER OF XXL IT WAS A WRAP FOR HIM!!! JUST LLOK AT BANKS, GAME & BUCK!!!

    22. the label only shipped like 18,000 copies [of the album]. So I wasn’t able to do gold first week or even 100k, none of that.

      SO WHY DID YOU ONLY SELL 13K??WHY NOT 18K. Smh!

    23. Hahaha I love it how Soulja blames the label for only shipping 18,000 copies when he wasn’t even able to sell that many. Even if they shipped 100,000 it wouldn’t have made a difference. Soulja, you are the definition of a one hit wonder and the only, very few, fans that you have are under the age of 9. Quit rapping you’re making hip-hop look bad.

      1. I thought the same thing, he didn’t even sell that many his first week. Who wants to buy a 20$ ashtray

    24. That is the saddest thing I have ever heard. Damn you 50, Damn you so much. Soulja Boy did NOT made internet, if he wasn’t there, everyone would still be on the net regardless what it is. Am sorry, but 50 cent is a failure by definition. These rapper really have to go, seriously they have to go back to college and learn about life for once. BOTH DO NOT BELONG HIP HOP AS A CULTURE NOR IT’S PHILOSOPHY, PERIOD.

      1. 50 cent is a failure by definition huh? good one fam the mans got like a quarter billion dollars couldnt let that shit slide

    25. In other words, they better leave the rap game now. Seriously let all the intelligent indie rappers do work while these two are gone for good.

    26. When you make a song with souilja boy your career is over R.I.P 50 cent soulja boys sugga daddy

    27. Who’s there to blame? Soulja Boy is garabge and need to quit rappin ASAP. This kid shouldn’t listen to Curtis and keep rapping.

    28. yeah 18k in the first week wasn’t enough to keep swaggin on and sippin on dat lean,so he gave up his lil brothers life for some more fame and cash,das why he aint go to the funeral bitch ass nikka

    29. Oh shut up already!! Your ass flopped cos ur wack. Gucci wanna be, dont blame the label, blame it on your wack flow.

    30. He made his money, so invest wisely, and leave rap alone, cause the numbers are going to continue being unkind.

    31. Illdoc said it best, if u are the kind of rapper who dont care about the quality of yours lyrics and only cares about making money then you should be aware that being a rapper with no lyrics (or talent for that matter) is not only artistly dubious, its also a bad long term investment. Its like the subprime mortgage of hip hop. It sounds like a good deal now (at the time when u start out) but in 5 yrs u probably will go broke and end up living in your parents basement. If only soulja boy thought about that smh.

    32. yeah the label was the reason for disappointing sales not that the album was a piece of shit and you cant rap it was the label

    33. If you go platinum, it’s got nothing to do with luck, it just means that a million people are stupid as fuck

    34. so we have 50 to blame for tony yayo AND another soulja boy album?damn why not kick a dog punch a baby and endorse Lil B while your at it!!

      1. shut up. are u counting money in that picture? did u work overtime at Burger King or did u just cash a welfare check?

        u look fuckin stupid with your Gucci Man inspired name/picture. i’d like to slap u in public.

      2. @the tactician.. you sound like a hatin bitch. i ain’t into Soulja Boy, but at least he makin a name for himself. you, on the other hand, is just actin like a bitch on the net hatin on another man’s money. i bet ur the one that be buyin them burgers, in turn giving burger king they revenue thus theoretically employing the poster above u!! lmao!!! gtfo lame ass!

    35. Just when Hiphop was resurrecting by Soulja fool thinking of quitting, 50 goes to kill Hiphop AGAIN by telling him to continue “rapping”

      DAMN…. Oh well, birds of the same feather flock together! They deserve each other!

    36. Niggaz always blame their record label when there album bricks. But when there album does well do they ever thank their label for the execution. Nope. Excuses Excuses

    37. This article really shows how stupid he is.

      “I shut down for a week. I wasn’t talking to nobody.” I wasn’t doing thing, I wasn’t doing that. but whose fault is it???? The record labels?

      Besides the album being shit (I’m assuming cuz I never listened to it) maybe you should grow up and take some responsibility next time Mr. “Businessman”.

    38. Is this guy serious? He is the worst thing thats ever happen to rap music!! what did he expect?? and what the hell is a record lable like interscope doing signing someone like soulja boy anyway? i mean with all of the taleent out there they put their money into him??? they give me a deal? makes no sense! or i should say it makes no ”cents”!!!!! and dont even get me started on his so called mentor ”50 cent”!! 50 is trying to sign pauly-d from that show ”jersey shore”!!! WTF!!! that says it all!!! one!

    39. i ain’t like Soulja Boy, but he makes them hits that the girls like. it’s not about the lyrical content, but the production. he got that pop production that sounds okay in small doses. grown men slave away in the studio trying to make up ideas, let’s see u pull that shit off. granted, some shit does sound like garbage tho. just sayin.

    40. Any time an artist blames a label for the amount they ship, they are LYING to themselves. The label shipped 18,000. He sold 13,000. YOU do the math. You didn’t even sell what they shipped. What about DIGITAL sales? The label can’t UNDER-ship that? And what about weekly sales after that! If you had, say, 500,000 people who wanted your album, they would eventually get it ONLINE, or in the subsequent weeks after the release. Frist week sales is only FIRST week. You have forever to sell an album. Stop lying to yourself.

      If you didnt know to tell the label what to do, you may need to learn how to run a label before you try and BE a label.

    41. i mean basically ..youngin was tryin to make his own moves and that happens…when you have a mentor you want to do it yourself.sometimes its not a loyalty issue its a ima be my own man issue.. but at times you can move to fast and this is what u get… but its important to not burn the bridge thats important to your cause……

      -all out

    42. The nigga is obviously lying. They had a ton of copies of his shitty album in Target and Hastings in my small city

    43. of course 50 would tell your dumb ass to keep rapping soulja boy, there’s a market out there created by kids who listen to your pointless raps, and 50 would make a shitload of more money off of it. keep making him rich.

    44. SB need to stop lieing to himself. Aint interscopes fault. You make good music people will demand it and it’ll blow. You make wack music like SB’s been making all his career? You’re gonna get shitty results.

      1. agreed with chris people are attracted to shitty ass cornball rap not many new rappers that have come out in the past couple of years have any lyrical content, and yes that includes waka and gucci. Kids these days arent truly in it for the music just somthin they can easily recite they can bob their head too that literally has no substance

    45. Nothin wrong with gettin money, I’m sure we can all agree.. but outside of a club maybe, nobody with half a brain* wants to hear his simple ass raps. You got some money and a start while you young, re-evaluate yourself and try to make some relevant music.

      *doesn’t apply to many

    46. label my ass is that what the young rappers do these days when they don’t like there output…thats wack man lupe used the same excuse sorry man i aint foolin for this shit.

      1. let the truth be known, i don’t even know why this kid is famous to begin with. He’s a bad rapper, and he’s ignorant as fuck. He’s a poison that shouldn’t have ever been allowed into the music industry. He dumbs everything down. Your album didn’t sell because it wasn’t good man, you got luck y the first couple times….people caught on though, eve though the are stupid fucking consumers who buy anything they still managed to figure out every album solja boy makes revolves around ONE fucking finger-snapping single…

    47. If SB album was undershipped he would have have had huge demand and the label would have restocked in order to make more money. Obviously there wasn’t a huge demand for SB thus he only sold 8000/18000 shipped. It seemed as though the label shipped the right amount of albums. SB only has singles, but nobody wants to spend 15$ for his music that goes stale after 1 listen.

    48. sb needs to grow with the music.that simple rhyme shit obviously ain’t workin anymore.he’s on his 14th minute of fame.if he don’t get his music elevated this next record will be his last.blame who you want but the record was garbage.take responsibility lil nigga.

    49. I feel as if soulja boy was gonna flop anyways because he is a singles artist. Just because you can drop a catchy hit does not mean automatically your going to sell. If that was the case then Flo Rida would be a superstar with a platinum plaque for every album. On top of that SB has worse odds because he is just not respected and as a result needs to step his game up. Last thing I don’t know why ppl have an issue with 50 cent encouraging SB. I mean seriously as much as i do not like a rapper that doesnt mean i dont wish them the most success in the world because im not a hater

    50. hahahahahahahahahahaha
      Soulja Boy is a shitty rapper/artist and thats why he didn’t sell records not because Interscope didnt promote his album. This kid is dumb as hell. fuck SB. If 50 can release an album that sounds like the tracks he’s released since the new year then he might sell again.

    51. u better blame ur corn ball self u r not what i will call Hip Hop I knew ppl will wake up and realize that u r trash.

    52. “[50] was like, ‘You’ve got to keep doing what you’re doing. You’re Soulja Boy, you’re here for a reason. Everybody’s not going platinum. Everybody didn’t do what you did. Everybody didn’t come in on the Internet. You’re the one that started the Internet. You’re the one that got me on the Internet. You’re the one that got us on blogs, on YouTube, and on Twitter.’ I was like, ‘Man, you know what? You’re right.’ He wasn’t doing nothing but speaking true knowledge to my head and it got me right back in the studio.”

      LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIESSSSSS

    53. Soulja Boy obviously hit tooooo many blunts, real convo was:
      50: “Soulja Boy, you’re done. I think we needa just keep u as a producer or maybe a fuckin janitor or some shit. U wack as shit and only sell cuz niggas hear swag and see a dance vid”
      Soulja Boy: “Nigga I’m SOULJA BOY. IMMA FUCKIN BATMAN YO ASS IF U DONT LEMME FUCKIN SELL THIS SWAGGIN ALBUM .BASED GOD GUNNA FUCK YO BITCH. Imma have waka come here and fuckin—”
      *50 falcon punches him in the throat*

    54. Soulja Boy should have known that bullshit he was putting out won’t going to last long. You can’t listen to the bullshit too many times. Why he complaining anyway You rich, take your cash and leave lil homie. Hopefully the industry stop shipping these garbage albums all together. Now could some one do the same for Wacka and Gucci albums. Hate if you want but they shit in the same garbage pile as his.

    55. a label will only ship what they expect to sell, and technically if you the bizness..the sores actually buy the records wholesale then resale hem, so sores only bout 18,000 copies so its not the labels fault. it wasnt a big demand for his album and sores arent gonna spend money on a product that isnt going to sell

    56. HAHAHAHAHAHHA 50 WAS COMPLEMENTING HIM AND HE SAID “YEAH MAN THATS TRUE KNOWLEDGE” WHAT A FUCKING MORON, souljah boy is a diminsher not an embracer, fucking head so big

    57. i bet Soulja boi and 50 cent were giving each other oral sex at the time this was said. and what 50 really said was “Soulja fuck rap you gotta start suckin dick for a living. ill put it on the internet, nigga youll have all the bloggers talkin. noww YOUUUU put that dick in your mouth and do the wonder woman”

    58. No label can compete with youtube, he has 99 million views with 1 single….so any of you giving your worthless negative comments need to go to hell. All jealously and hate from wannabes aside, with that many fans, he needs to do tours starting RIGHT NOW!!! FUCK SUMMER JAMS AND RADIO STATION BIRTHDAY BASHES!! I’m talking high schools, frat houses, dives, small concert halls….and don’t over charge people….

    59. this nigga is wack and his album sales prove it. just cuz u wanna say you started the internet craze, please, it’s surpassed you, think of something new to stay on top, 15 mins been up!

    60. What a hoe he is, getting major pimped by his record label then 50 cent doing Jimmy’s biddig for him by acting like the label siperho to get thje newy young ho to work harder.

      Man fuck em all, this shit aint never goin back to the 90’s – you are lucky as fuck to live through that era. These niggas are all slaves now and sold souls.

    61. LOL

      So let me get this straight. Souljah Boy’s album sales suck, and he’s blaming the timing of its release date? He thinks a couple months difference would have made him go from wood to platinum?

      Someone’s in denial. Obviously his fanbase of knuckledragging retards outgrew him, and he didn’t have a hit song to hook the fickle tween pop-rap crowd. Which is his entire fanbase.

      Oh, yeah, “Pretty Boy Swag.” That was sure lighting up the charts. What the f-ck is “Pretty Boy Swag”? For real. That lit up the charts? Really? “Empire of State of Mind.” That lit up the charts. Not “Pretty Boy Swag.” God, that’s a shitty title. It sounds like the worst song ever. Ugh.

      Then Souljah Boy says 50 Cent gave him good “advice,” when 50 Cent just gave him sycophantic compliments? Vomit, vomit, vomit. What a bunch of dicksucking insincere bullshit. Is Souljah Boy capable of any kind of self-reflection or criticism?

      I’m going to guess “no.” Because he sounds like a spoiled, dumbass kid that’s in for a rude awakening, as the years pass by, and he gets older and less popular. And you know what? It can’t come fast enough. Fuck this spoiled lobotomized loser. He literally has nothing to draw back on, other than making embarassing “songs” like Superman The Hoe, and Blaarrrrfgghghh and Swaggy Swaggy Christmas or whatever the fuck his shit is called.

    62. Every time i hear this whack ass rapper i die a little more inside , PRONTO PRONTO, CRANK THAT Soulja Boy hahahah so terrible

    63. So the label shipped 18000 and you only sold 13000.

      Sounds like the label over shipped 5000 albums.

      I guess they knew it would be trash too.

    64. Lol hey soulja boy! a shitty carpenter blames his tools!!! think bout that METHAPOR since you left that element out your music!!!!

    65. Pretty boy swag was a pretty hot record. And this nigga did come out wit hits. His label did fuck him over. Think bout it, if they send out more records, they’d have to put that album everywhere, once people saw it they’d buy it. I know I didn’t even know the nigga had an album out. fuckin labels always try to fuck over artists especially rappers.

      1. YEAH! Soulja Boy is the bestest rap guy in the world, right up there with Lil B & Gucci Mane, they rap about real life stuff like dancing, looking like Jesus & face tatoos, that shit is hard. I can’t wait for Soulja to change his m=name to Soulja Man & reveal to the world that he & Lil B are gay butt loving faggots together. Gucci Mane 4-EVA!

    66. you can tell this guy aint a real artist simply by the way he judges his success. Sales. All he talk about his sales. He doesnt talk about the concent of the album or how he thinks its his best release to date. He is only disappointed by the sales. If you listen to an interview by Kanye or Drake they never mention sales unless asked by the interviewer, all they concentrate on is perfecting thier craft and sales will come from those who love good music.

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