Listen to Soulja Boy Tell 'Em on Batanga

DeAndre Cortez Way, better known by his stage name Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, or simply Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, dancer, and record producer. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and moved to Atlanta, Georgia at age seven, where he became interested in rap music. At age 14, he moved to Batesville, Mississippi with his father, who provided a recording studio for Way to explore his musical ambitions.

In November 2005, Way posted his songs on the video-based social community – YouTube. Following positive reviews on the site, Soulja Boy then established his own web pages on YouTube and MySpace. In March 2007, he recorded "Crank That" and released his first independent album Unsigned and Still Major, followed by a low-budget video filmed demonstrating the "Soulja Boy" dance. By the end of May 2007, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" received its first airplay and Soulja Boy met with Mr. Collipark to sign a deal with Interscope Records.

On August 12, 2007, the song appeared on the Emmy-award winning HBO series Entourage, and by September 1, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot RingMasters charts. Way's major label debut album Souljaboytellem.com, which was reportedly recorded using just the demo version of FL Studio, was released in the United States on October 2, peaking at #4 on both the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.

For the 50th Grammy Awards, Soulja Boy was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song with "Crank That (Soulja Boy)". He lost to Kanye West's and T-Pain's "Good Life".

Soulja Boy has a partner in rapping, Arab (pronounced "ay-rab"), who is featured in the first verse of Soulja Boy's single, "YAHHH!", which reached number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Pop 100, number 34 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 17 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks. Soulja Boy has a tribute song to Arab on his debut album, souljaboytellem.com, entitled "Pass It to Arab". Not only is it a tribute, but Arab is also the song's producer and is featured on it.

Souljaboytellem.com received a favorable review from Allmusic, but a negative one from Entertainment Weekly. Several reviewers credited Soulja Boy with spearheading a new trend in hip-hop, while speculating he will likely be a one hit wonder.

Critics and hip-hop figures such as Snoop Dogg Method Man, 50 Cent, and Jermaine Dupri cite Soulja Boy as artistically typical of contemporary rap trends such as writing for the lucrative ringtone market, and the ascendance of "Southern hip hop", emphasizing catchy, mindless music that discards rap's traditional emphasis on message.