“Can’t knock the hustle…” - Shawn Carter

He came in the game with a Fruity Loops single and a YouTube dance…

…and he pimped the hell out of every 16 year-old girl with a cellphone and ITunes.

3,000,000 downloads later — the debate continues….

Soulja Boy’s “Crank Dat” will forever change the way music is marketed, further blurring the line between “high profile artist” and “Regular Joe“. From a YouTube video that made its way (virally) onto to the airwaves, to the highest selling download single of all time.

Crazy right? (c) him

How does that happen? A lot of times, record labels fabricate back stories like Soulja Boy’s in order to gain a larger fanbase (not sure if this happened in his case, but you’d be suprised @ some of these “self-made success” stories being marketing stunts). However — in his case the song is catchy, he invented a dance to go with it, and he’s a teenager.

It markets itself.

I’m sure the majority of people around my age (mid 20s) can’t stand that damn song. I feel like I’m getting dumber every time I hear that steel drum intro. What we tend to forget though is the songs we listened to when we were teenagers. They definitely weren’t “Crank Dat” or “A Bay Bay” wack, but the 25-year olds of yesteryear gave us the same blank stare we give our radios each time that song comes on. In reality what we’re more upset about is the fact that another song just like it came on before that, and you know for damn sure another clone is coming on afterwards. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for songs like these, but I don’t wanna hear “Crank Dat” or “T-Pain Song #26″ to and from work everyday, or when I’m chillin’ on a Sunday afternoon.

Ahh yes….the good ol’ “there’s no balance” argument.

But it’s true. Back in the day (I can’t believe I just typed that) you could count on hearing a Wu-Tang joint after that new Missy single, or the new Redman joint after “Whoomp There It Is” or whatever…..and it was good (c) The Old Testament

With all of the new forms of technology available, cats like Soulja Boy have the opportunity to take the music industry back into the artist’s hands, and away from these Ol’ T.I. lookin’ ass ninjas. But they won’t. They’ll sell out when WillieLynch Records offers them that $450,000 advance check because Lil’ Yung Ninja is 16 years old w/ three kids, and his baby mama needs transportation.

So my advice is this — if you don’t like it, keep it movin’. Let the kids have their “Whoomp There It Is”. Restoring balance is obviously a battle we can’t win. Good music is still out there — radio or no.