Soulja Boy claims he was the 'blueprint' for every successful hip-hop artist: 'Don't act like I didn't make Drake'

16.01.2019 20:43

ThisIsinsider.com

Soulja Boy gave a combative and passionate interview to Power 105.1's "The Breakfast Club" on Wednesday morning.
The 28-year-old rapper, whose fame peaked in 2007 with the smash hit "Crank That," claimed he was the "blueprint" for every successful hip-hop artist.
"I was the first artist on social media. I was the first artist on YouTube. These record labels set their blueprint behind me. I'm the reason why they're streaming right now," he said. "Y'all all owe me a percentage."
He also claimed that he "made" Drake because the rapper allegedly "copied" Soulja Boy's flow from "What's Hannenin."

Soulja Boy, most famous for 2000s-era hits like "Crank That" and "Kiss Me Thru the Phone," has slammed modern rappers like Drake and Kanye West in a new interview.

On Wednesday morning, Soulja Boy appeared on Power 105.1's "The Breakfast Club" to promote his upcoming role on the WE tv reality series, "Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition." But the 28-year-old rapper ended up delivering an impassioned defense of his legacy.

"I was the first artist on social media. I was the first artist on YouTube. These record labels set their blueprint behind me. I'm the reason why they're streaming right now," he said. "When I first came out, they said hip-hop was dead. They said I killed hip-hop."

"Snoop Dogg, all the OGs were like, 'What is this bulls---?'" he continued. "Now, look at everybody. They love the new generation. I had to take them bullets. Everybody doing what I did. They laughed at me... And now they doing exactly what I did."

Ayye yal can hate but Soulja Boy is absolutely right about this ????????‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/cJdWSnqnLw
— VERSACEBOYENT (@VersaceBoyEnt2) January 16, 2019

"I'm the reason y'all doing this," he concluded. "Y'all should thank me. Every artist in the game, all y'all record labels, y'all owe me five percent, bro. Y'all all owe me a percentage."

Soulja claimed that his 2007 hit "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" was the first song to ever be certified diamond and sell 10 million copies "digitally." (It's unclear where he got those figures; "Crank That" is not one of the 22 singles that have been certified diamond by the RIAA.)

He also insulted popular rappers like Tekashi 6ix9ine and Tyga, slammed Kanye West for supporting Donald Trump, and — most notably — claimed that he himself is responsible for Drake's success.

"Stop playing like I didn't teach Drake everything he knows," Soulja said. "Don't act like I didn't make Drake."

Soulja's main assertion is that one of Drake's early singles, "Miss Me," bears lyrical similarities to Soulja's 2007 track "What's Hannenin." Charlamagne tha God also noted that it somewhat resembles Soulja's 2008 hit "Kiss Me Thru the Phone."

"That's Soulja! That's my bar! He copied my whole f---ing flow," Soulja said. "Word for word, bar for bar."

Oh my God Drake really stole Soulja Boy shit i thought he was cappin ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/EZiB2FUsTx
— GRAY (@Gray_IV) January 16, 2019

The similarities are widely considered to be an interpolation of Soulja's song — and it looks like very few listeners are siding with Soulja.

Lol Soulja Boy has had like 3 hits in his whole career while Drake has 3 hits like every other month
— lil ???? oozy ???? bert ???? (@liloozybert) January 16, 2019

Wayne has done this. Jay has done this. Kendrick has done this. Em has even done this. All greats have done this. He didn’t steal his song. It’s called paying homage. Even Soulja did this on that same song. Childish created that flow...
— CJ Riggs (@crown_cj) January 16, 2019