Crank That (Soulja Boy)

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
Single by Soulja Boy
from the album souljaboytellem.com
Released	May 2, 2007 (2007-05-02)
Format	CD single, digital download, 12"
Recorded	2007; Soulja Boy's House (Batesville, Mississippi), Start2Finish (Kansas City, Kansas) and Collipark Studio (College Park, Georgia)[1]
Genre	Hip pop, Snap Rap
Length	3:42
Label	Collipark, Interscope
Writer(s)	DeAndre Way[2]
Producer	Soulja Boy
Certification	3× Platinum (RIAA), Platinum (ARIA, RIANZ)
Soulja Boy chronology
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (2007) "Soulja Girl" (2007)
Alternative cover
International cover

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" is the debut single by American rapper Soulja Boy from his debut album souljaboytellem.com. It spent seven weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2007. The song is recognized by its looping steel pan riff. The song was originally produced on the program FL Studio before being later reproduced. The song was completed completely by a PC with the default packs that were used in the program. In 2009 it was named the 23rd most successful song of the 2000s, on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade.^[3]

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" is 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 51st Grammy Awards but lost to Kanye West's song "Good Life".

Music video

The video (directed by Dale Resteghini) begins in the "ColliPark Residence" with two children imitating the Soulja Boy dance, they frequently begin their sentences with the word "Bukaw," the slang from that area.^[5] 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 popularizing the dance, en route to meeting with Soulja Boy. The video ranked at #1 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2007 countdown.

This video was premiered on BET's 106 & Park on August 9, 2007. The music video features Bow Wow, Chris Brown, Omarion, Unk, Baby D, Jibbs, Rich Boy, Arab and several dancers doing the signature "Soulja Boy Dance." This song was #1 in BET: Notarized Top 100 Videos of 2008 countdown.

YouTube phenomenon

A large number of "remixes" of the video, featuring the original audio track and video taken from cartoons such as Bambi 2,^[6] SpongeBob SquarePants,^[7] The Simpsons,^[8] South Park,^[9] and Dora the Explorer,^[10] also appeared on YouTube at the time of the track's success.^[11]

Charts

Chart (2007–2008)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[12]	3
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[13]	53
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[14]	6
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[15]	7
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[16]	5
France (SNEP)[17]	29
Germany (Media Control AG)[18]	29
New Zealand (RIANZ)[19]	2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[20]	67
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[21]	2
US Billboard Hot 100[22]	1
US Pop Songs (Billboard)[23]	9
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[24]	3
US Rap Songs (Billboard)[25]	1

Appearances in other media

• The song was featured in the episode 11 of Gossip Girl's fourth season
• The song is featured as a dance track on the game Dance Central on the Xbox 360 Kinect.
• A remixed rock version with Soulja Boy and Travis Barker can be heard in the movie "Never Back Down".
• In 2011, British singer/actress Lulu appeared in the second heat in the third series of the BBC One program Let's Dance for Comic Relief, in which she danced to "Crank That" and billed herself and her dancers as "Lulu's Boys." She was eliminated by the panel.
• The dance was included in World of Warcraft's Cataclysm expansion for male goblins.

References

1. ^ (2007) Album notes for souljaboytellem.com by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em [CD liner]. Interscope Records.
2. ^ "Crank That (Soulja Boy) - Writing Credits". BMI.com. Broadcast Music Incorporated. http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&page=1&keyid=9168620&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
3. ^ "Hot 100 Decade Songs". Billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Singles&f=Greece#/charts-decade-end/hot-100-songs?year=2009&begin=21&order=position. Retrieved 2010-01-10. 
4. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
5. ^ South Park-Crank dat soulja boy on YouTube
6. ^ Crank Dat Soulja Boy - Bambi 2 on YouTube
7. ^ spongebob (crank dat spiderman) on YouTube
8. ^ Crank Dat Homer Simpsons on YouTube
9. ^ South Park-Crank dat soulja boy on YouTube
10. ^ Dora the Explorer (Crank Dat Soulja Boy) on YouTube
11. ^ Mason, Matt (10 May 2008), "Piracy is remixing culture and capitalism", The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/features/story/0,,2278509,00.html .
12. ^ "Australian-charts.com – Soulja Boy Tellem – Crank That (Soulja Boy)". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Hung Medien.
13. ^ "Soulja Boy Tellem – Crank That (Soulja Boy) – Austriancharts.at" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Hung Medien.
14. ^ "Ultratop.be – Soulja Boy Tellem – Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (in Dutch). Ultratip. ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
15. ^ "Ultratop.be – Soulja Boy Tellem – Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (in French). Ultratip. ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
16. ^ "Soulja Boy Tell'em Album & Song Chart History" Canadian Hot 100 for Soulja Boy Tell'em. Prometheus Global Media.
17. ^ "Lescharts.com – Soulja Boy Tellem – Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (in French). Les classement single. Hung Medien.
18. ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche - musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
19. ^ "Charts.org.nz – Soulja Boy Tellem – Crank That (Soulja Boy)". Top 40 Singles. Hung Medien.
20. ^ "Soulja Boy Tellem – Crank That (Soulja Boy) – swisscharts.com". Swiss Singles Chart. Hung Medien.
21. ^ "Chart Stats – Soulja Boy Tellem – Crank That (Soulja Boy)" UK Singles Chart. Chart Stats.
22. ^ "Soulja Boy Tell'em Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Soulja Boy Tell'em. Prometheus Global Media.
23. ^ "Soulja Boy Tell'em Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Pop Songs for Soulja Boy Tell'em. Prometheus Global Media.
24. ^ "Soulja Boy Tell'em Album & Song Chart History" Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Soulja Boy Tell'em. Prometheus Global Media.
25. ^ "Soulja Boy Tell'em Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Rap Songs for Soulja Boy Tell'em. Prometheus Global Media.