
Soulja Boy was born DeAndre Cortez Way in Chicago, IL on July 28, 1990, but his family moved to Atlanta, GA when he was 6 years old Growing up in Atlanta, Soulja Boyb> developed a huge taste for hip hop music in general. Acquiring an affinity for music, he hooked up with his friend Young Kwonb>, who taught him the ins and outs of making beats and recording music. Young Kwon recorded the first songs that Soulja Boy ever did. Hanging out at the studio or their house, learning all about snap beats became a past time for Soulja Boy, with Kwon as his mentor. Soulja Boy developed musical skill early on, but didn't have the financial means to put that skill to use. Growing up poor with his mom and little brother, he just couldn't afford it. Another obstacle was school, where he was a straight A student, until his music started affecting his grades.
In 8th grade, Soulja Boy left Atlanta with his father to move to Batesville, MS. He made this move because his father was better off financially, and could provide for him while his mother could not. Soulja Boy saw that this would be an important career move, and made the choice. While in Mississippi, Soulja Boy familiarized himself with computers, and began spreading his music online. Collaborating with his friend, Arab, they formed the group 30/30 Boys. They made several songs and started out posting them on Soundclick, letting people download his music for free, and then registered his own personal website, souljaboytellem.com. He also hooked up with manager Michael Sykes, AKA Miami Mike
With all the exposure gained from their online promotion, Soulja Boy eventually caught the eye of Mr. Collipark of Collipark Music and Soulja Boy signed onto Collipark/Interscope. He didn't even have a single or any albums when signed by Collipark, but Mr. Collipark recognized Soulja Boy's outrageous and unique style, and knew that he had found something good. In 2004, Soulja Boy went back to Atlanta and decided that he had to provide a better life for his mother and get her out of Atlanta. In Atlanta, he started to get popular and the money started to come in. He paired up with manager Derrick Crooms, who was responsible for the popularity of the Ying Yang Twins. Gaining more popularity, Soulja Boy did his first performance at age 15 at a teen club in Indianapolis, Indiana. Worried about it at first, Soulja Boy quickly warmed up to it and knew that this was the life he was destined for
Soulja Boy's success may be partly because of his online presence. There are almost 20 thousand Soulja Boy Youtube videos at this time, his top video having over 12 million views... which is just awe inspiring. His real success comes from Myspace though, with over 11 million profile views and 20 million song plays... and he hasn't even released an album yet. His first album, Souljaboytellem.com, will be released by Interscope Records on October 2, 2007. WIth his "Crank Dat Soulja Boy" riding along the top of Billboard charts for the longest time, this album is sure to be a great success