Crank That (Soulja Boy)
| "Crank That" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" is a song by rapper Soulja Boy on his debut album Souljaboytellem.com. It spent seven weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2007. Its music video features Bow Wow, Omarion, Unk, Baby D, Jibbs, Rich Boy and several dancers doing the signature "Soulja Boy Dance." The chorus mentions Superman, and that position is performed in the dance, but the video censors the Superman tag: a giant one on Soulja Boy's hoody and one on a man who is wearing a Superman costume. The "S" on him is actually supposed to stand for "Soulja", but is the form of the "S" of the Superman tag. While there's also a "B" on him, also in the form of the Superman tag, but smaller and a "B", standing for "Boy", both tags on either side of the chest of the hoody. In other videos, Collipark Music is also censored, which is the mat Soulja Boy and the dancers dance on, and a chain which Soulja wears. The song is easily recognized with its steel pan melody.
Soulja Boy performed the song on both TRL and 106 & Park on the same day in August 27, 2007. He also performed it on the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards at Kanye West's Good Life Party.
The song is on Now That's What I Call Music! 26.
Remixes
There are various remixes of this song, which include artists such as Twista, Jermaine Dupri, Ya Boy, Money Mobb, Broken Equipment Productions As Lil Wayne, Cassidy, Jae Millz, Tone-Tone and Short Dawg. There is also an official remix, "Travis Barker Remix" (which replaced most of the piano with guitar and drums), which features Jim Jones, Hurricane Chris, Arab, Rich Boy, Shop Boyz and Gucci Mane.
The song has also spawned somewhat of a subgenre, with many artists creating similar but usually totally different "Crank Dat" songs such as Crank Dat Batman and Crank Dat Howard Dean. Most of these also have their own official dances.
Chart performance
The song reached the summit of the Hot 100 on September 15, 2007, where it stayed for two weeks before it was replaced by "Stronger" by Kanye West. It replaced the song again on October 6, 2007, staying at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for another five weeks, making it a number one-single for a total of seven weeks. Through radio airplay on several stations that occasionally play hip-hop, the song charted at number 85 on Mediabase's Alternative Rock chart. [1]
The song is also achieving international success; so far, it has peaked at number two on the Top 40 Singles Chart in New Zealand. [2] In the UK the song managed to debut at #53 on the UK Singles Chart on downloads alone, and since has moved up to #24 on downloads alone. The track will be released physically on December 17th, [3] making it a contender for Christmas No 1.
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 [4] |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 2 |
| U.S. Hot Rap Tracks | 1 |
| Brazilian Hot 100 | 47 [5] |
| Canadian Hot 100 | 5 [4] |
| New Zealand Top 40 | 2 [4] |
| United World Chart | 9 [4] |
| UK Singles Chart | 14 [4] |
References
- ^ http://w2.mediabase.com/mmrweb/AllAccess/Charts.asp?format=r3MM&showtopn=500&cutoff=1
- ^ http://acharts.us/nz_singles_top_40
- ^ http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/c/uk/single_charts.html
- ^ a b c d e "Soulja Boy - Crank That (soulja Boy) worldwide chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved October 20 2007.
- ^ Brazilian Hot 100 Songs & Tracks. Hot100Brasil. Retrieved October 31 2007.
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External links
- "Superman That Ho" Op-Ed that uses Crank That as an example of songs with misogynistic lyrics in September 28, 2007 issue of Student Life at Washington University in St. Louis
- "Supersoak That Ho A Reconsideration" A lighthearted satirical rebuttal of the above op-ed from October 1, 2007 issue of Student Life at Washington University in St. Louis
- A Presentation about the Soulja Boy Phenomenon from the MIT Comparative Media Studies department.
- Article about the Soulja Boy Phenomenon, also from MIT CMS.
- A close reading of the Soulja Boy Video, also from MIT CMS.
- A comprehensive list of all the Crank Dat spawns