Crank That (Soulja Boy)

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
A man is holding a cellphone to his left ear. He is wearing a jacket with a matching beanie headpiece and black sunglasses with white lettering on the lenses that say "Soulja Boy". He is also fanning out mixed denominations of U.S. dollars. He has an expression of shock on his face. Centred to his top left in orange, capital letter graffiti-like font is the title 'Crank That'. Directly below the title in larger blue font is the name 'Soulja Boy'. The name features stars filling the gaps in the 'o' letters.
Single by Soulja Boy Tell'em
from the album souljaboytellem.com
Released May 2, 2007 (2007-05-02)
Format
Recorded
Genre Snap
Length 3:42
Label
Songwriter(s) DeAndre Way[2]
Producer(s) Soulja Boy
Music video
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" on YouTube
Soulja Boy singles chronology
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
(2007) Crank That (Soulja Boy)2007		 "Soulja Girl"
(2007) Soulja Girl2007

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" is the debut single by American rapper Soulja Boy Tell'em. It served as the lead single from his debut studio album, souljaboytellem.com (2007) and accompanies the Soulja Boy dance. The song is recognized by its looping steelpan riff. It caused what has been called "the biggest dance fad since the [mid-1990s] Macarena", with an instructional YouTube video for the dance surpassing 27 million views by early 2008.[3]

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" spent seven weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 2007, and was the number 21 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[4] The song received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song at the 50th Grammy Awards but lost to Kanye West's song "Good Life". On January 6, 2008, it became the first song ever to sell 3 million digital copies in the US.[5] In 2009 it was named the 23rd most successful song of the 2000s on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade.[6] It had sold 5,080,000 downloads in the US by February 2014.[7]

Production and release

The song was originally produced in FL Studio before being later re-produced. It was released on May 2, 2007 in the US and on June 27, 2007 globally.

Dance and music video

Crank That (Soulja Boy)

Inspired by recent dance crazes that had popularized some rappers from Atlanta, Soulja Boy (DeAndre Way) and his friends invented the dance moves that gave rise to "Crank That": As summarized by The Wall Street Journal, "dancers bounce back on their heels, ripple their hands, crank their wrists like motorcyclists, then lunge into a Superman pose".[3]

The music video (directed by Dale Resteghini) begins in the "ColliPark Residence" with Sincostan Ak Flame and J Fresh imitating the Soulja Boy dance. Mr. Collipark takes a keen interest in the children's movements, leading him to contact Soulja Boy in an attempt to sign him up to "Collipark Records". His instinct is confirmed when he notices a number of people performing the dance, en route to meeting with Soulja Boy.

This video was premiered on BET's 106 & Park on August 9, 2007. The music video features Bow Wow, Omarion, Unk, Baby D, Jibbs, Rich Boy, Arab, and several dancers doing the signature "Soulja Boy Dance".

A large number of "remixes" of the video, featuring the original audio track and video taken from cartoons such as Bambi II, Dora the Explorer, The Simpsons, South Park,[8] and most notably, SpongeBob SquarePants, also appeared on YouTube at the time of the track's success.[9] There have also been many parodies of the video parodying various people, including Michael Jackson and Barney, as well as a cover by American post-hardcore band I Set My Friends on Fire.

Charts

References

  1. ↑ souljaboytellem.com (CD liner). Soulja Boy. Interscope Records. 2009.
  2. ↑ "Crank That (Soulja Boy) - Writing Credits". BMI.com. Broadcast Music Incorporated. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  3. 1 2 Jurgensen, John (February 9, 2008). "But Can You Dance to It?". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015.
  4. ↑ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
  5. ↑ Paul Grein (January 7, 2011). "Chart Watch Extra: Thank You, Daniel Powter". Yahoo Music (Chart Watch). Archived from the original on 2012-10-03.
  6. ↑ "Hot 100 Decade Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  7. ↑ Paul Grein (January 5, 2013). "Chart Watch: Beyonce Soars To #2". Yahoo Music.
  8. ↑ South Park-Crank dat soulja boy on YouTube
  9. ↑ Mason, Matt (10 May 2008). "Piracy is remixing culture and capitalism". The Guardian .
  10. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Soulja Boy – Crank That (Soulja Boy)". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  11. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Soulja Boy – Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Soulja Boy – Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  13. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Soulja Boy – Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (in French). Ultratip.
  14. ↑ "Soulja Boy Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  15. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Soulja Boy – Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (in French). Les classement single.
  16. ↑ "Musicline.de – Soulja Boy Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  17. ↑ "Charts.nz – Soulja Boy – Crank That (Soulja Boy)". Top 40 Singles.
  18. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Soulja Boy – Crank That (Soulja Boy)". Swiss Singles Chart.
  19. ↑ "Soulja Boy: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  20. ↑ "Soulja Boy Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  21. ↑ "Soulja Boy Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  22. ↑ "Soulja Boy Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  23. ↑ "Soulja Boy Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard.
  24. ↑ "End of Year Charts 2007". NZTop40. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 - 2007". Official Charts. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "Hot 100 Songs : Page 1 - Billboard". Billboard.
  27. ↑ "Rap Songs: 2007 Year-End Charts - Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  28. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2008". ARIA. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  29. ↑ "Canadian Hot 100 - Year End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  30. ↑ "End of Year Charts 2008". NZTop40. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  31. ↑ "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 - 2008". Official Charts. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  32. ↑ "Hot 100 Songs - Year End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  33. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100 Decade-End 2000-2009". Retrieved 2012-04-15.
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