Soulja Boy: 'I Always Knew I Was Going to Get the Last Laugh'

Back then they didn’t want him, now he’s hot they all on him. After being dismissed as a one-hit wonder, Soulja Boy Tell’em has a few words for the haters.

Following 2007’s monster hit “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” critics and peers wrote off the 18-year-old rapper-producer as a flash in the pan. But everything started changing once “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and “Turn My Swag On” became one of the top 10 songs on urban radio.

“When I went into the studio to record my second album, everybody wanted to see me fail,” Soulja Boy told the Los Angeles Times. “At this point, I’m thinking: ‘I’m not going to do it to prove them wrong. I’m going to do it for myself, for my fans, for history—period. People are saying I’m the new MC Hammer? That’s not me.'”

The young MC has since been fielding collaboration requests from Usher, Lil Jon, Keri Hilson, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, R. Kelly, and Jamie Foxx. “After the first album, I’m not going to lie, there was no artists that reached out,” he said. “Now I have more hits, more rank and pull. Everything is changing.”

Despite the hateration, Soulja Boy always knew he would prevail. “I always knew I was going to get the last laugh.”

The Atlanta-bred artist, now living in Los Angeles, is working on his third album, The DeAndre Way, due for release later this year.