Love it or loathe it, “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” is the biggest pop novelty of 2007, and only partly because it was the country’s No. 1 single for seven weeks this fall.
With Soulja Boy’s rudimentary, shouted (mostly indecipherable) rhymes, spare steel-drum hook and snapping fingers, the song is equal parts irresistibly catchy and endlessly annoying.The track recently received a Grammy nomination for best rap song.
Realistically, it’s the easy-to-do, better-in-a-group choreography that has made “Crank That” the biggest dance sensation since the Macarena. On YouTube, people from all walks of life, ages and races have uploaded homemade video clips with their version of the dance — more than 40,000. Dozens show animated characters “cranking that” in sync, from SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Barney and the Simpsons to Bambi, Winnie the Pooh and the Lion King.
A “Crank That” instructional video, with Soulja Boy breaking down each move, has tallied about 21 million views since being added to YouTube. The single’s music video has passed 25 million views. Kind of amazing for a 17-year-old’s debut single, one that started as a download from his MySpace page.
“Ah, man, it was just something I was doing in the bedroom of my house and having fun,” he says. “I’m surprised that it got this big!”
As to the polarized opinions, Soulja Boy says: “I wasn’t making it for everybody to like me. Now a lot of people hate that song and a lot of people love it, so it’s just crazy. They like the beat, they like the song and they like the dance. It’s not like something separate, and it’s not something you got to sit down and take time to learn.”
In fact, whether you’re laughing at the dance or laughing with it, it’s fun, it’s infectious, and the fact that anyone can do it (which doesn’t mean that anyone should do it) is clearly part of its charm.
Soulja Boy shot the instructional video in Atlanta, in the same empty swimming pool featured in the film “Stomp the Yard.”
“Everybody was trying to learn the dance, but nobody really knew how to do it right,” he says during rehearsals in Columbus, Ga.
Soulja Boy, born DeAndre Way in Chicago, was in eighth grade when he moved to Batesville, Miss., to live with his father, who made a defining purchase.
“When I first got my computer, I was 12,” says Soulja Boy. “It got me where I am.”
He started making beats and songs, then turned to the Internet.
His album “Unsigned and Still Major” was released in March, but it didn’t capture much attention.
But that same month, Soulja Boy recorded “Crank That” on his computer. No instruments were involved. He uploaded the video to YouTube in April, and after that it was off to the races as a viral Internet sensation. Atlanta producer-impresario Michael Grooms, a.k.a. Mr. Collipark (Ying Yang Twins, Young Jeezy), who first heard about Soulja Boy from kids in a park where his sons played, signed him to a major-label deal with Interscope.
“Crank That” hit the radio in late May and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September. It has also been a No. 1 ring tone and No. 1 on iTunes.
“Crank That” is also on the hit list of “hip-hop is dead” traditionalists, who dismiss “Crank That” as “ring-tone rap.” Ironically, Soulja Boy’s music marks a revival of rap’s bust-a-move style and a move away from the gloom and doom of gangsta rap.
