Beyoncé’s fandom of Soulja Boy Tell’Em goes back nearly a decade. In 2007, when a young DeAndre Way first began making waves, Bey acknowledged his breakout single “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” by performing the viral accompanying Superman dance on her Beyoncé Experience tour. Nine years later, she paid homage to another SB classic by interpolating his 2008 smash “Turn My Swag On,” for her single “Hold Up.”
“I hop up out the bed and get my swag on / I look in the mirror, say, ‘What’s up?’” she falsettoes on the Lemonade track, which is co-produced by Diplo and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. Soulja received a writing credit for Beyoncé’s nod to the iSouljaBoyTellem standout he recorded at age 19. “I need to write a fucking book worth of lyrics and drop ’em,” Soulja told Genius. “The songs I’m dropping now, in a couple of years [other artists] will still be fucking with them.”
Soulja Boy’s latest offering of inspiration is Better Late Than Never, the new LP he released today via Apple Music. The 25-year-old SODMG CEO phoned Genius to speak about the making of “Turn My Swag On,” clearing Beyoncé’s sample, and his upcoming music with Lil Yachty and Lil B.
Genius: How did you hear about Beyoncé using your lyrics from “Turn My Swag On” on “Hold Up”?
Soulja Boy: I heard about it straight from her [laughs]. Nah, I’m just playing. I cleared it myself. My team hit me and I gave them the go-ahead. I’m not gonna clear that? C’mon now [laughs]. I’ma have to do that. That’s Queen Beyoncé. Anything she wants, she can use it.
How did it feel to see Beyoncé doing the “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” dance on her Beyoncé Experience tour in 2007?
Yeah, I remember that. I seen it on YouTube. I met her at the BET Awards and told her thanks for dancing to the song and helping the song grow. That just really says that I’ve been grinding, working hard. It’s paying off.
What inspired you to write “Turn My Swag On”?
I was just feeling amazing. I was fresh out of high school. My first album went platinum and I’d got the plaque—that was a big deal for me. I was on tour with Chris Brown for months , I had just got home. People were like, “Oh, he a one-hit wonder.”
I was chillin’ in the crib and I just came up with, “Hop up out the bed, turn my swag on!” I had a big-ass mirror in my house. Huge-ass, fucking gold royal mirror. “When you look in the mirror, say what’s up. Yeah! I’m gettin’ money!” My homies were like, “What the fuck? What is that you singing? What’s wrong with you?” I was like, “Man, book the fucking studio right now.”
I’ll never forget it. I did it in Atlanta at Tree Sound Studios. I laid the song and listened back to it. I was like, “Oh yeah, that’s the one.” It took people a little bit to catch on but everybody caught on. All the rappers freestyling on my shit. It was a wave.
This was one song that didn’t have your production—it’s actually produced by Natural Disaster and Top Cat. Why did you choose this beat?
When I heard the beat, I already knew. I just knew something just had to go to it. I dropped the hook on and it sounded perfect. I just made the whole song like a catchy hook. One long-ass hook.
At one point, you called “Turn My Swag On” a lifestyle record.
I love that song. It’s definitely a lifestyle record, inviting everything about the American Dream. Being successful. It’s what everybody wants. Everybody want to hop up out the bed, juice up, have money, do anything you want. That’s why a lot of people vibed with it. It’s a feel-good record.
What should we expect from Better Late Than Never?
Dope vibes. It’s going hard. It’s not trap—Stacks on Deck was trap. I was on my trap, savage mode. Better Late Than Never’s first track is called “Grindin'”—I’m on there singing. People be like, “You’ve done a lot, you’ve got a lot of success. Why are you still doing this?” That song is me breaking down that I’m grinding, telling a story and having a good vibe with dope-ass beats. It’s all about the beats. How could you not like a project with hard-ass beats? Even if you don’t like the bars, you gotta fuck with the beat.
Lil Yachty mentioned that you guys were working on Pretty Boy Millionaires 2. Is that still happening?
Yeah, we still trying to get everything together. It’s me, him and Lil B—you got so many conflict of schedules. We still working on it, but it’s coming soon.
What do you think of the term “SoundCloud rapper” and how the platform is used to connect artists?
Everybody has to get on some type of way. I was the first to do it with the Internet; I pioneered the game. So I try to be an OG to the young artists. A lot of artists reach out to me. Lil Yachty, I didn’t know who he was, but he hit me. We met through Coach K.—Gucci Mane and Migos’ manager—and clicked. He told me his story and I just vibed with him. Pretty Boy Millionaires, Pt. 2, that was just an idea. Now, it’s turning into a reality.
Are there plans to work with Gucci Mane now that he’s home?
I’ma leave that up to Gucci. I’m just really glad to see him home. You already know that’s fam—you damn-near know me and him are gonna drop some shit. He gon’ let the people know.
There’s a huge possibility that you could win a Grammy if Beyoncé gets nominated for Lemonade. What would that mean to you?
That would mean the most to me. I’ve been working so hard. Any award, any type of appreciation is crazy, but a Grammy would be dope. I was nominated for a Grammy but I didn’t get it. It’s all good. Shout out to Kanye West. He beat me. I’m still salty about it [laughs]. If I got a Grammy, it’d be pretty amazing. I owe Beyoncé a lot.
