This n*gga's garbage with the rhymes. I don't care who you are don't be in my face telling me Soulja Boy can spit cause he can't! IMO anyway... His music is, well, a topic of huge interest to me. There once was a time I think last summer where I really TRIED to listen to this dude. I figured I need to be able to communicate with people, and people f*ck with Soulja Boy. Instead of being like 90% of the listeners out there that don't really listen at all, I decided I would get to the bottom of why his appeal is what it is.
Boy was that tough. Needless to say his beats at times while simplistic can be catchy as hell. Still they get very monotonous... Why am I even going in on this, it's not the point of the entry. Just wanted to give ya'll a little bit of back story as to why I'm highlighting Soulja Boy of all artists today.
I came across this Vibe interview with dude (vibe.com suckas), and it really grabbed my attention. I'm sure some of you have heard that Soulja Boy's next album will be far more 'lyrical' than his past conquests have demonstrated.
I heard that, thought maybe he will step it up with the pen... Then I heard 'Pretty Boy Swag'...
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Needless to say I completely wrote off all the lyrical miracle talk concerning his album as the song sounded like this n*gga was trying to say he could go in and gargle cum on the beat and every1 would still love it. Wait, ACCEPT it rather.. *Sighs*
True spit, 1 of the reasons I f*ck with Charles Hamilton the way I do is because he gives his fans unparalleled insight as to why the music is the way it is. Outside AND inside the music. So I'm not left wondering why he went ahead and decided to make something sound the way it did. Definitely doesn't excuse some of sins he commits in his music, but at least I know WHERE he is coming from.
*Back to the Soulja*
This interview gave me a little bit of insight on Soulja Boy the artist. Say what you will, dude built his sh*t from the ground up for dolo. Gotta RESPECT that, and if I can respect you I can f*ck with you musically. Most all above anything else I remain hopeful that all my fav. artists do not become stagnant. Grow and evolve with your craft, it shows me the consumer you give a damn.
I feel as if SB is making a step in that direction and if this interview is any indication, then the kid may just be in it for the long haul after all. I mean sh*t, he's already gotten away with viral pollution lol.
Anyway here are some excerpts from the vibe.com interview that caught my eye.
I remember you saying a few months back that you want this to be your most lyrical album yet. What’s your writing process?
It depends on what type of song it is. For "Pretty Boy Swag," there was no writing process. I went into the booth, listened to the beat, and the rhythm had just kept catching my head. So I put the headphones on and just replaced the rhythm with whatever words. That was my basic process for that song. But like for a song I have on my album called “I Deserve A Grammy,” featuring Esther Dean, the writing process for that was crucial. That was like, a six-hour plane ride from New York to Los Angeles, just clearing my head, sitting down with a sheet of paper and a pen and just going in. Thinking of the words, how I’m going to pronounce each syllable and playing the beat over and over in my head. That was a much more crucial process. When people hear the album, and hear songs like “I Deserve A Grammy,” you’re going to be able to tell I really had to sit down and go back in over and over until I had it perfect.
What about the Twitter hashtags #ifsouljaboycouldrap or #rappersbetterthansouljaboy—when you see stuff like that, do you just laugh it off, or does it get to you?
When I see stuff like that it makes my ego get bigger. Because it’s like, damn, all these people are focusing on me—whether it’s good or it’s bad. I know that my music’s the shit. It’s only a certain group of people pushing that negative energy, so for all the other people that’s seeing it that fuck with me, that makes them want to go harder for me. When I see stuff like that, I know it’s going to lead all these people to my name, period. It’s funny, but at the same time, it’s promotion
What’d you do differently this album to make your raps more lyrical?
This time around I did a lot of research. I received a lot of constructive criticism, listened to different people’s opinions, and then I sat down and bought a whole bunch of different albums, and listened to them all the way through—really listened to the lyrics. I just wanted to hear what they were saying. I took from all of that and mixed it into one and I went ham.
Looking back at your first two albums, do you think the rhymes were wack?
I ain’t gonna front. I heard some of my previous songs and I would just laugh, like, “damn.” I done came a long way. It’s crazy how people really fuck with them songs, how they were successful. It’s crazy just to see my growth. It’s amazing.
True. Has there ever an online moment that you regretted afterward?
Smoking on camera. I do regret that. I ain’t really want my fans to see that, because I got a fanbase of kids that goes down as low as 10 years old, all the way up to grown people in their 30s. When the camera was on me, I wasn’t thinking about none of that. And we all make mistakes, as long as you know what your mistake was and you be a man about it, people will forgive you and you can move on.
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Basically he's growing up. We all need to at some point.
shout out to JKennedy over at vibe.com
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-/Rebel2Society\-v(**)
