Who is Soulja Boy? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: DeAndre Cortez Way, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, simply Soulja Boy

Age: 33 Years, 33 Year Old Males

Family:

father: Tracy Way

siblings: Deion Jenkins

Born Country: United States

Rappers Hip Hop Singers

Height: 5'9" (175 cm), 5'9" Males

City: Chicago, Illinois

U.S. State: Illinois

Recommended For You

Recommended Lists:

Childhood & Early Life

Soulja Boy was born as DeAndre Cortez Way on July 28, 1990, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Along with his family, young Way moved to Atlanta at the age of 6.

A fascination for music propelled Way to embark on a musical career. Giving wings to explore his musical ambitions, his father provided him with a recording studio in Batesville, Mississippi at the age of fourteen.

Continue Reading Below

Recommended Lists:

Career

Soulja Boy’s early breakthrough in music came through web. He had posted a song on the site SoundClick in November 2005, that met with a positive response. This propelled him to establish accounts on YouTube and Myspace for his musical endeavours.

His debut album came in on March 2007, titled ‘Unsigned & Still Major: Da Album Before da Album’. Its song, ‘Crank That’ received its first airplay in May 2007. It peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Hot RingMasters charts and was even used on the television series ‘Entourage’. Following the success of the single, he inked a deal with Interscope Records.

On October 2007, Soulja Boy’s major label debut album, ‘Souljaboytellem.com’ was released. It peaked at number four on both the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. A follow-up of it came in on December 2008, as ‘iSouljaBoyTellem’. The second studio album was negatively received.

Touted as a one-hit wonder boy, he silenced his critics with his third single ‘Turn My Swag On’. The song topped the US Rap Charts and peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. During this time, he came up with several mixtapes ‘Paranormal Activity’, ‘Dat Piff’ and ‘Cortez’.

Soulja Boy’s jinx of unsuccessful albums continued with his third studio album, ‘The DeAndre Way’ being the lowest-selling album till date. However, its lead single ‘Pretty Boy Swag’ reached number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number five on the Rap Songs chart.

Beginning 2011, he released a series of mixtapes, starting with ‘Smooky’, followed by ‘1UP’ and next ‘Juice’. Later, he came up with the EP mixtape titled ‘Bernaurd Arnault EP’ which was followed by ‘21: EP’ and ‘The Last Crown’. Towards the end of the year, he released a couple of more mixtapes including ‘Supreme’, ‘Skate Boy’ and ‘Gold On Deck’.

In 2012, Soulja Boy released a series of mixtapes including ‘50/13’, ‘Mario & Domo vs. the World’, ‘OBEY’ and ‘Double Cup City’. In September 2012, he released the sequel mixtape ‘Juice II’ which became his most-downloaded mixtape. He followed it up with mixtape ‘Young & Flexin’ and ‘LOUD’, the latter being his first mixtape distributed on iTunes.

In 2011, Soulja Boy had announced that he was working on an album ‘Promise’. However, delays in releasing the album led him to release the mixtape ‘Foreign’ in February 2013. Following the expiry of his record deal with Interscope Records, he signed a contract with Cash Money Records. Re-titling his album ‘USA DRE’, he released the first single from the album, ‘Handsome’.

On March 2013, he released the EP ‘All Black’ and soon came up with the mixtape ‘Foreign 2’. A series of mixtapes and EPs were released later including ‘King Soulja’ and his second EP ‘Cuban Link’, mixtapes ‘Life After Fame’, ‘23’, ‘The King’.

Continue Reading Below

Soulja Boy’s mixtape releases continued in 2014, as he came up with ‘King Soulja 2’ in March. He followed this up with his first digital album ‘Super Dope’. Next, he penned and featured on Nicki Minaj's promotional single ‘Yasss Bish’, which received positive reviews from music critics.

On June 2014, he released his second digital album ‘King Soulja 3’ via iTunes. It featured appearances from Gudda Gudda and Rich The Kid. He followed it up with the mixtape ‘Young Millionaire’, featuring appearances from Sean Kingston, Cap.1 and Rich The Kid.

Later in November 2014, he signed a new label deal with Universal Music Group. He also announced his upcoming projects including the fourth studio album, ‘Loyalty’.

In 2015, Soulja Boy released his fourth studio album ‘Loyalty’. In addition to this, he released singles, mixtapes and a digital album. He followed it up with the single ‘Whippin My Wrist’ that charted at number 48 on Billboard trending 140. He then released several mixtapes including ‘Swag The Mixtape’, ‘25 The Movie’ and ‘M & M: Money and Music’. In July, he came up with his digital album ‘King Soulja 4’

Year 2016, saw the release of Soulja Boy’s fifth and sixth digital albums in addition to numerous mixtapes, singles and videos. While ‘Stack on Deck’ was his fifth digital album, ‘Better Late Than Never’ was his sixth digital album. He released several singles including ‘Drop The Top’, ‘Stephen Curry’, ‘Day One’, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Max Payne’, ‘Hit Them Folks’ and ‘I'm Up Now’ and mixtapes ‘Finesse EP’, ‘King Soulja 5’, ‘S. Beezy 2’, ‘King Soulja 6’ and ‘Ignorant Shit’.

Recommended Lists:

American Hip-Hop & Rappers

Leo Men

Major Works

Several albums and mixtapes old, Soulja Boy’s best bit, however, came with his debut single released in September 2007, titled ‘Crank That (Soulja Boy)’. It peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The single became a number-one hit in the United States for seven non-consecutive weeks. His debut studio album ‘Souljaboytellem.com’ was also a success, peaking at number four on both the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.

Awards & Achievements

Soulja Boy won the 2007 BET Hip-Hop Awards for Best Hip-Hop Dance. Same year, he received the Ozone Award in the category of ‘Patiently Waiting: Mississippi’.

Personal Life & Legacy

Soulja has an elder brother. In 2011, his younger brother named Deion Jenkins died in an auto collision.

In 2019, he was romantically linked to Blac Chyna. He also dated Tiona Fernan. He started dating Jackilyn Martinez in 2022. In late 2022, the couple wlecomed a baby boy.

Soulja Boy Biography