After amassing nearly 3 million followers on Twitter, Soulja Boy’s 2011 album, The DeAndre Way, debuted with 13,000 copies sold during its initial week of release. Jokes were made, and Billboard magazine even ran an article entitled, “Why Soulja Boy’s 2.5 Million Twitter Followers Didn’t Make a Hit Album.”
“I think over the next five to ten years, artists are gonna resort to touring, of course,” Soulja Boy told Lee Hawkins in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “But I also think social media is gonna kick in to the next level. With the iPhone, the iPad and everything that’s coming out, there’s gonna be a new invention for the way people consume music.”
At the time he reached national prominence, Soulja Boy was a case study of sorts in how music was consumed. His single “Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)” remains the 14th best-selling digital single of all time, with 4.6 million downloads. And, with over 400 million YouTube views, he helped usher in the era of artists “going viral.”
To date, The DeAndre Way has sales just short of 100,000. The single “Pretty Boy Swag” has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and also made the top 30 list of Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 chart.
See the full Wall Street Journal interview below:
RELATED: Soulja Boy Blames Interscope For Disappointing Album Sales, Says 50 Cent Pushed Him To Keep Rapping
And even then people wont buy your music
Your name is slang term for “Wack” in Hip Hop now
I’ll use it in a sentence for you
“Yo, that song on the radio sounds like some Soulja Boy Shit”
word!
lmaaoo first of all the typo in the first sentence says 30million, but according to the name of the billboards article i assume it meant 3million. …He hasn’t predicted shit, artists have already resorted to touring as their main source of income since nobody except Wayne is going platinum. WHat I wanna know is why Soulja Boy could’t predict the downfall of his own career lol
Eminem, Jay Z, Jeezy, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, etc… I can name you quite a few artists who go platinum on every album!
Wayne, Eminem, JAy, Kanye, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Drake, Taylor Swift, Adele,Usher, and every other country artist all go platinum
Souljaboytellem has straight told mang. 2020, Imma go triple platinum.
No offense hiphopdx, you have the time to delete inapporpriate comments, but dont have the time to correct the article?
Soulja boy has 3 million followers, not 30 million.
HUGE fucking difference. Errors like that make this site so unprofessional. Please change it.
I was like damn do anybody got that many followers on twitter lol
except maybe me 🙂
hella unprofessional 30 million followers lmao do your research!
i fuckin predicted this guy wasn’t guna impact in any sort of way since his youtube days.n now here we are in a world where wack niggaz defend why they can’t sell records.nobody fucks wit his music even his fans lol.what was the point in signing this dude in the first place!?!?!?!?!i called this failure years back
Hes just a reminder of how YMCMB will end up in a good 2-4 years.
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He’s the new Hammer..
He’ll be broke within the next 5-7 years..
He had his moment, it’s over now..
5-7 years? that nigga is already broke.
soulja boy should set up a psychic hotline cuz his career is just about OVER! never should’ve had a career in music in the fuckin first place
3 million followers
album drops in stores, 13,000 buy the first week, rises to 100,000 almost a year later
one song off the album went platinum because it was downloaded
Your fans don’t buy records Soulja, they download songs, this is not hard to see with the naked eye.
that’s because he is a very pop artist. Pop fans do not buy albums, and just download the big singles they hear on the radio.
Umm he doesn’t make pop music. he makes trash music. And Pop is the main Genre that sells, and has been the best selling genre behind country for the past 30 years. Hip Hop and ROck are the genre’s that don’t sell becuase their fans don’t support
3 WORDS: ONE HIT WONDER! javascript:void(null)
No Joe Budden – there’s a one hit wonder!!
Or – Chamillonare.
SB had two hits…. but yeeah they were fucking trash!
That guy sang Tipsy…. LOL
That tune was hard – never see him again!
that was j-kwon i think. i remember he disappeared for a while and no one knew what was up. trying to pull a d. chappelle but no one gave a fuck.
not a one hit wonder
crank dat
turn my swag on
donk
pretty boy swag
theres more
Currently the worst lyricist in Hip Hop!
Lol this is sad lol. He did horrible because he can’t make relevant tracks for people. No offense all the people I know who are soulja boy fans are ghetto people who can’t buy albums for their favorite “rapper”. He is truly a one hit wonder, unless he changes up his music he won’t go up. Selling out to record companies isn’t always a good thing. Once people notice you fucking up on your music, no one is gonna listen to you. That’s how I see it.
HE NEVER HAD TO SELLOUT…HE WAS JUST THAT SHITTY!!!!
Poor SB, light years behind the curve…. LOL
“People are gonna have to start touring now….”” Nigga – the whole industry had the conversation 4 years ago.
Hence the 360 deals and big distribution shake ups.
Here’s a need way to consume your music.
EXAMPLE
New Soulboy track – click here.
Close Browser. Log off. Wait 5 minutes. Throw up, clean ears with cotton tips. Log on. Continue with you life and hope no-one reminds you this young man exist.
In case you are wondering, yes, when it comes this guy – fuck it – I am a hater.
Fuck this talent-less boy!
Man, you’re retarded as hell, he clearly said, “touring, of course”. Damn, he’s saying touring will forever be a way for artists to get money.
Fucking haters really are the dumbest sons of bitches alive.
At one side of the spectrum I wanna respect him for his hustle. On the other side I wanna snuff him for using “swag”, signing Lil B & Riff Raff and the worse bars since…Lil B & Riff Raff.The latter side has a sizable lead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0kbl48NhzQ&list=UUHUgaeoSWUfFgUr0Xuee7mg&index=1&feature=plcp
yu come on here just 4 dat happy v times day fag get sum pussy
SOULJA BOY, COME TO YMCMB AND WE’LL RESURRECT YOUR CAREER. WE FUCKS WITH YOU HERE. GET MONEY, FUCK BITCHES. YMCMB MMG OVOXO SODMG
I knew I should have shot you in your mother mouth. What a let down to know my son is a fag ass fan boy
They’re all owed by the same company.
The problem isn’t downloading. Country artists routinely go platinum because they actually go on TV and promote their stuff the old fashioned way. Rappers like SB post some bullshit on You Tube and think that’s the same thing. Or Twitter their stupid thoughts. It’s half ass, and lazy. It’s ok to use these tools, but not as your main platform.
“I think over the next five to ten years, artists are gonna resort to touring, of course,
This kid needs to shut the fuck up and move on,,,he doesnt know what the fuck he being interviewed about
“With the iPhone, the iPad and everything thats coming out, theres gonna be a new invention for the way people consume music.
uh yah, its called Itunes and amazon you stupid fuck. your about 8 years behind bro. big suprise…how the fuck does this guy have fans over 13?
To all the SB fans out there ” STAY IN SCHOOL”.
All the money in the world doesn’t compensate for a good education. See video above. Better yet look at all his interviews!!!
He looks high off coke in the interview smh dude is ass
Is he supposed to be the role model for the young kids?
Scary.
SB: We gon’ live on the moon in about 10-15 years, ya dig?
(reporter mumbles to himself “this motherfucker”)
SB: Er…. Niggas will be in the senate.
Reporter: The Senate..
SB: Yeah you kno, in Rome
Reporter: ……..
SB: My music will be all over the world
Reporter: Yeah, look… these need to realistic..
SB: my bad…
SB: Fried chicken gon be free for the poor and hun…
(reporter drops pistol,exits through side door)
SOULJA BOY GOT MORE HITS THEN EVERYBODY IN SLAUGHTER HOUSE HORSE SHOE GANG COMBINED
Yo all these guys on here hatin on a Rich dude… 2012 Bentley a year early… The reason behind his sales were due to his promoters.. They dint ship enough off…
And he aint got three or four hits… Solid beats… Yea he may not be a great lyric writer in ur view, but chek this out.. Hav u got tha Juice?? Hav u got a private jet??? All u on here r no wher near rich… Am a financial lawyer earnin real money…
Let me list some of his hits… Shhotout, 2 Cupz, Blowing Me Kisses, Grinding, Juice, Kickstand, My City, Ocean Gang Splash, Pick Up The Phone, Smooky, Swag Daddy, Tell Me Why, ZAN Lean, Zan wit that Lean, Playball, Turn Ma Swag On, All The Way Turnt Up, Mean Mug, Pretty Boy Swag, Numbers, Ringtone, Grammy, Bingo, Gucci Bandana ETC ETC…..
OH Yea not to mention Soulja Boy – WHIP
Act like you got some sense. Stop being a Souja Boy.