Soulja Boy exploded into the rap game in the fall of 2007, when his debut single, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)," peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven non-consecutive weeks. Fifteen years removed from its release, Soulja believes the track would be even bigger if it dropped in today's world of social media.
In an interview on the latest episode of the hip-hop interview show Kids Take Over, the 33-year-old Chicago native explained how he'd market "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
if it was released in 2023.
“This was before streaming, really," Soulja recalled. "This was still in iTunes and ringtones. I would have went more viral right now than I did back then. Actually, the fucking numbers and shit that I did back then is fucking legendary, amazing compared to today’s, from the technology that I was using.”
Soulja Boy continued by noting how big "Crank That" would be given the power of TikTok in 2023.
“Imagine if I had TikTok! What the fuck?" he said. "You know how many people would have been doing the 'Crank That' dance?"
Of course, it isn't the first time Soulja Boy has reminded the hip-hop community how he's influenced the genre. Back in August, Soulja hopped on Twitter and took credit for pioneering the evolution that hip-hop has experienced with the rise of the internet.
"When I came in the game they said I killed hip hop," Soulja wrote. "But really, I birthed the new wave of hip hop with internet/streaming. Ahead of my time."
He added, "Now everyone vlogs their career like me," he said. "Now everyone uploads their music to the internet. Now everyone goes live for their fans. I started it. Thank me or not. Flowers/Credit or not."
