(SODMG, 2011)
- by Yayo

Soulja Boy may have one of the greatest critical divides of anyone in the music industry; his fanbase is savage, full of loyal young men and women alike who will buy multiple copies of his album and download every free mixtape he releases. His critics are a different story entirely; while they’re less likely to call Soulja the “death of hip-hop” these days, a title that got played out before Soulja’s career even transcended into success, Soulja still gets accused of biting whatever’s on his playlist when he hits the recording booth.

It’s true, his influences do shine through a bit on his newest release, 1UP; traces of media-darlings OFWGKTA are displayed through the contributions from resident Odd Future-producer, Matt Martians of the Super Three. Clams Casino provides the backdrop for both I Love My Fans and I Love My Haters, and his trademark ambient production certainly recalls all the work he’s done for the Based God. Johnny Juliano, best known for his work crafting regional hits with Wiz Khalifa in the early part of his career, provides two dreary, piano-laden beats (All I Want and iGot) which both allow Soulja to show traces of early Memphis Buck music, complete with hypnotizing, foot-stomping choruses. He borrows his big bruh Gucci’s Worthy & Erving instrumental to spit over on Stacks On Deck, and handles it with a quick-witted cadence reminiscent of Gucci’s mesmerising flow itself during the Wilt Chamberlain era.

But despite all the homages and tributes, 1UP remains genuine to Soulja’s original vision. The music retains its lighthearted, fun approach throughout, although never delving into a popular, “bubblegum” demeanor. One thing Soulja has become a master of throughout the years is the ability to create catchy music that never strays too far from his original aim, expressed on Crank Dat; that of an uptempo, bass-heavy track equipped with an infectious chorus that stays embedded in your head immediately after listening. Two of the best examples of that here are Money Gang and Good Life, songs which differ greatly in execution but are approached with those same basic fundamentals mentioned earlier.

Money Gang is the big sprawling Southern trunk-banger outfitted with horns, 808s, an instantly-memorable chorus, and enough swag to stop an eighteen wheeler on a dime. Good Life takes a more subtle approach to the anthemic pieces Soulja is known for crafting; coming straight out of the Neptunes book (Drop It Like It’s Hot drums included), Good Life is some elegant, sipping-Pina-Coladas-at-tropical-resorts music, with an ethereal choir included that provides visuals of a set of cherubs singing notes on a Yacht while Soulja smokes blunts on a beach chair. I can’t be the only one who pictures that very #based imagery while listening to Good Life; a song that will instantly put you in a better state of mind.

As evidenced by the tracklist and Naruto-inspired artwork, there is a loose concept to 1UP; that being of, as Dre puts it, “video game music.” 1UP, the title track, rarely touches base on that despite the title, but it does feature a minimalistic post-Snap beat with a drum-loop that sounds like it’d fit perfectly on an 8-bit console. Much more loyal to the idea is Retro Gamer, a song which features lines like the hilarious “I told the bitch I had a Sega Saturn/she ain’t know what that was!” It’s this type of attitude that keeps Soulja so closely-knit with his fans, his everyman vibe persistent throughout despite the fact that Soulja is a media mogul worth multiple million. It’s clear that when Soulja isn’t in the booth recording for his ever-supportive fanbase or hanging out with models, he’s at one of his mansions in his pajamas playing Xbox Live with a spliff somewhere near by. Insanely empathetic, outside of that entire “mansion” part. But we can dream, right?

Soulja certainly dreams, but he stays working just as hard. Over the past four years, Soulja went from a seventeen year old version of Lil Jon’s “heavy on crunk, light on lyrics” approach to an ever-improving young rapper whose writing and technical precision improve on each consequent release. The two aforementioned Clams Casino production display this the best; two tracks with similar sentiments, which both focus on opposite spectrum. Both I Love My Fans and I Love My Haters are laced with positivity, the former being a genuine, heart-felt thank you to all of his supporters; the latter being an even more endearing effort, as Soulja spends the entire song shrugging off the oft-unwarranted criticism thrown his way. Both are elevated even further by the elegant production that Clams gifted Soulja with; Clammy’s recent instrumental tape has caught a lot of attention in the blogosphere, and the lush, tinkling piano keys spread across both tracks mixed with ambient-sounds display why his work has garned such acclaim.

1UP is the second mixtape Soulja’s released this year, after the depressingly overlooked Smooky. 1UP appears to have already caught more attention than that project did, and it’s fitting; as great as Smooky was, 1UP displays even more of the natural progression Soulja has been steadily making since he released a mixtape every couple months. A walking embodiment of practice makes perfect; Soulja may not have mastered his craft just yet, but with 1UP, he’s come even closer to finally achieving his goal of being a critically-acclaimed artist. He may still get that Grammy yet.

You can reach Yayo at the following spots:
Twitter: @yayodancing/@nojumperdotcom
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