VancitySound: 2011

Soulja Boy - The Last Crown [2011]

In the world of hip hop Soulja Boy is analogous to Cthulu, Nazism, & dysgenics. To conservative/uptight listeners he’s a destructive force denigrating the art with lyrics about cranking Supermen turning their swag on and 30 Thousand 100 Million Dre, The Developers. To them he’s the Pied Piper seducing younger hip hop fans of a ledge into an endless dungeon of abominable rapping where the once sacred maiden, hip hop, is made a cheap, two dollar harlot. Of course these tight ass fuck boys are overreacting because Soulja slaps. Soulja makes fun technicolor rap songs with repetitious, catchy hooks. Early Soulja has the minimalism of Triple 6 Mafia bedding with his home state’s snap scene. And, of course snap is indebted to the influence of Atlanta bass music scene. This contextualizes Soulja’s nascent style by showing that the kid was part of a larger music scene and not an internet meme exhausting his fame beyond conceivable shelf life, as he is commonly (infuriatingly) accused of being. Soulja Boy aspires to do something different than Organized Konfusion. On a technical level his rapping could be better but that’s wholly irrelevant. Soulja Boy makes rap that is fun to listen to not lyrical displays of technical dexterity. Besides he has shown signs of improvement. Dare I say, Soulja is (always has, really) exhibiting signs of artistic self-expression. This mixtape is a lot like his other mixtapes but what distinguishes it is the range of sound Soulja has acquired over the years. An interesting thing about Mr. Way is his strategy of appropriating (full scale biting in some instances) another artist’s sound (e.g. Lil B, Gucci Mane, YC) but here it looks like he is making baby steps towards abdicating his biting habits. This record is fun and I think cynical backpackers should listen to cure their crabbiness and develop a well rounded appreciation of hip hop. Yuki!

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