How is The Net Worth of Soulja Boy a Whopping $30m?

What is Soulja Boy’s net worth?

The Usual Intro

Soulja Boy is an American professional rapper. He debuted in September 2007 with his single “Crank That,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Soulja Boy is best known for his tracks “Crank That” and “Tell Em,” having formerly gone by the stage name “Soulja Boy Tell ’em.” He has also become famous in online communities for controversies relating to his gaming consoles.

Before the Spotlight

DeAndre Cortez Way, a.k.a. Soulja Boy, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 28^th, 1990. Way has not disclosed much about his early childhood.

At the age of six, he moved to Atlanta and developed a liking for hip-hop music, after which he started rapping. Once he turned 14, Way moved to Batesville, Mississippi, with his father.

Way’s father built a recording studio in their family home, encouraging him to pursue his passion for music. Later in life, Way credited his father for being supportive of his passion. Soulja Boy first posted music on SoundClick in 2005.

The Journey to Success

Some positive reviews on SoundClick encouraged Way to create accounts on YouTube and MySpace. He would release his first album in March 2007, followed by his debut single in May. Way signed with Interscope Records in that same month.

In October, he released his debut studio album, “souljaboytellem.com,” which received mixed reviews from the public despite ranking 4th on Billboard 200. He followed up with his second studio album, “iSouljaBoyTellem,” in December 2008; however, he did not get the response he had hoped for. The album was received poorly by the public and especially by critics. 

Way announced his intentions to release his third studio album, “The DeAndre Way,” in 2008. The first single from the album was released in 2009 but did not do well commercially. In an attempt to save face, Way passed it off as a ‘promo single.’ After a series of renames and delays, he ended up releasing the album with its original name in 2010. While some singles from the album did manage to rank on the charts, sales were underwhelming. The DeAndre Way remains Soulja Boy’s worst-selling album to date, with a mere 70,000 sales. 

After a few years of releasing mixtapes exclusively, Way released his fourth studio album, “Loyalty,” in 2015. He then released two digital albums. During this time, Way started collaborating with a number of other prominent rap artists, which saw him gain some popularity.

Way announced his sixth studio album, “How Can You Blame Me?,” in 2019. It has not been released yet. 

Apart from rapping, Way branched out into fashion designing, acting, and music production, albeit not to the same degree of success. As a music producer, he has worked for some big names, such as Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Beyonce. In 2018, Soulja Boy released his own console line, the SouljaGame.

The Best Moments

• Won the BET Best Hip-Hop dance award in 2007.
  
• His debut single “Crank That” received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song in 2018.
  
• Ranked at #18 on Forbes’ list of Hip-Hop Cash Kings of 2010 by earning $7 million that year.

• Won the BET social verified award in 2019.

The Private Side

Not much is known about Soulja Boy’s father, Tracy Way, but he claims to have a good relationship with him. He has a strained relationship with his mother and claims she only contacts him when she needs money.

Soulja Boy had one brother and two half-brothers, all younger than him. His youngest half-brother passed away due to a car crash in 2011.

In 2008, Way’s house was robbed and he was attacked by armed assailants. The very next day, two masked men released a video on the internet claiming credit for the attack. Soulja Boy initially reported seeing six masked men, but in a later interview, changed his account to seeing only three men. 

Soulja Boy’s Related YouTube Video

Famous Quotes of Soulja Boy

Here are some famous quotes from Soulja Boy: 

• “Drake and Kanye, y’all gotta move out of the way. I’m younger than y’all. I look better than y’all. I got more swag than y’all. And it just is what it is. I’m here to take it. I’m the new best rapper.”
  
• “My first single I was nominated for a Grammy with ‘Crank That,’ and I lost a Grammy to Kanye West, but it was still such a big deal for me to be nominated anyway.”
  
• “I think swag is very important to rappers. It’s the overall appearance and style of an artist – these blue shorts and this blue hat and this $80,000 chain, this jewelry and all these tattoos, that’s swag.”

The Social World

Soulja Boy is active on social media. Here are the links to his official accounts on each platform:

• YouTube: 3.19 million subscribers.
• Instagram: 7 million followers.
• Twitter: 5.5 million subscribers.

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Here are some lessons we can learn from Soulja Boy:

1. Be grateful. As seen from the 2nd quote, Soulja Boy lost a Grammy to Kanye West but was appreciative of the nomination regardless.
   
2. Have confidence. Soulja Boy does not hold back from calling out prominent celebrities in the rap industry by their names.
   
3. Take advantage of the internet. Soulja Boy suggests that aspiring musicians and artists use the internet to build initial fame.
   
4. Stay original. Soulja Boy’s unique and refreshing take on music has allowed him to obtain the admiration of many.

The Unusual Stuff

Some interesting or weird facts about Soulja Boy you might not have known!

• Kanye West once credited Soulja Boy for his originality.
  
• Soulja Boy had all of his face tattoos removed in 2020. He claims to have done it so he could acquire better roles in movies.
  
• Way created a record label ‘Stacks on Deck Entertainment’ in 2004 but dropped all signed artists in 2016.
  
• Soulja Boy’s favorite food is chilli cheese fries.
  
• Soulja Boy was sued for his name in 2007 by another artist who coined the stage name “Souljiah Boy” in 1996.

Answering Frequent Questions

Who is Jackie?

Jackie is a celebrity hairstylist and Soulja Boy’s current girlfriend. Her real name is Aliyah Hayes.

What happened to Soulja Boy’s console?

Soulja Boy removed his consoles from his website after Nintendo threatened to file a lawsuit against him.

Will Soulja Boy fight Jake Paul?

While the two had an online altercation in 2019, it does not look like they will be fighting in a boxing match.

The Closing Remarks

Soulja Boy has several chart-topping singles to his name and is a prominent name in the rapping genre today. Besides music, he has also ventured into business and released gaming consoles by his name. One of his greatest strategies to success was using the internet to establish his initial following. He encourages up-and-coming rappers to do the same. Recently, Soulja Boy helped the website LimeWire relaunch as an NFT marketplace by sharing the company’s commercial on his social media.

Featured image credit: Jamie Lamor Thompson / Shutterstock.com