We Love you Soulja Boy

I used to be a big hiphop fan; back in the early to mid-ninties, there were some pretty powerful artists out there who came out with songs holding deep meanings, strong lyrics, and put some real effort into their beats & tunes. Now if you're not a rap/hiphop fan, you probably won't know what i'm talking about, since the genre has been transformed into something resembling a germ on the butt of a dead dog rotting in pile of garbage. In the rain.

Real hiphop is apparently dead, because as I was scanning through the TV channels the other day, I managed to come across a little masterpiece music video by someone called Soulja Boy. The meaningful lyrics went something like this:

YAH TRICK YAAAAAAH
YAH TRICK YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
YAH TRICK YAAAAAAH!!!
YAH TRICK YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
ABAGEDEBAH ABARGEDEBAAAAAAH!!!!
GET OUT MY FACE!!!
GET OUT MY FACE!!
GET OUT MY FACE!
GET OUT MY FACE!!!!!
GET OUT MY FACE!!!
YAAAAAH YAAAAAAAAAAH YAAAH YAH YAAAAH YAAAAH!!!!

Lovely. I'm sure the song actually has a deeper meaning than i'm able to envision; what with me being an old fart today compared to all the cool 16 and 17 year olds out there.

Oh by the way, those lyrics are not made up by me, not one bit of them (not even the abadgedebah abaargedebaaah part). Don't believe me? Here, check out the video: Soulja Boy - YAH! (trust me, you have to see this to believe it).

If you haven't already heard of Soulja Boy, you apparently don't listen to the radio; there's been this song playing over the past few months with no real melody, rhythm or lyrics, that goes YOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU and DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and OOOOOOOOOOOOH and i'm pretty sure you must have heard it somewhere. After all, it's been all over TV, radio, cellphone ringtones, and blasting on the speakers of random teenagers driving around your neigbourhood (Video Here)

So then, this Soulja Boy has managed to turn the hiphop artform into a bit of a joke, turning his annoying tunes into ringtones everyone can download, walking around with oversized glasses with his name written all over them, sporting ridiculous fashions, and creating a stupid new dance for everyone to do.

But then, you start to think about it; the kid is 17. Hmm. We were all acting 'cool' at 17, so I guess he's just acting his age; I was doing about the same things back then. And wait a second; besides appealing to ridiculous amounts of teenagers who buy his music (making him a millionaire), creating a legion of followers through his 'dance' moves, he's managed to turn it into a ringtone, and earned a few million more through that. And last (and i'm sort of ashamed to say this), after hearing the songs a few million times, they actually start to sound good. And the videos get pretty funny too.

He's obviously having a lot of fun doing the whole thing. Sort of reminds me when I was 17; darn it... Anybody know of a way I can go back to that age, of being a little silly teenager with no worries? Blah..

For now though, i'll continue to 'Crank That' Soulja Boy in my car as a bit of a guilty pleasure as I cruise around (not too loud obviously, to make sure no one can hear me listening to him!).


Shameful. So Shameful.