Hip-Hop Island

The self proclaimed prince of swag is back at it with his second installment of studio magic on iSouljaBoyTellEm (Interscope). For sixty minutes or so, Soulja raps over what seems to be the same beat, talking about, well, mostly nothing. If Soulja planned on presenting the world with something new, he surely missed the mark on this one.

What Soulja does deliver on is a new ridiculous dance for Soulja Nation to learn. “Bird Walk” renders the same one-two step beat as “Marco Polo,” but the new steps have a little more flight to it. Ice-T may see Soulja Boy as the apocalypse of Hip-Hop, but one thing’s for sure, Soulja’s definitely profiting from his swagger as he prophesizes on “Turn My Swag On”, “I gotta question why they hatin’ on me? / I ain’t do nothing to them but count this money”.

From telling the world how great he looks in Gucci on “Gucci Bandana”, to boasting about his copious amounts of ice on “Shoppin’ Spree,” to dishing about his run-ins with the mall police on “Hey You There”, Soulja quickly runs out of topics to rap about. So naturally like any teenager, he turns his attention to chasing after the ladies.

Soulja yearns for those luscious assets on “Booty Got Swag”, as he painfully boasts that “her booty so big I can hang my chain from it.” Hooking up with Jamaica’s own teenage sensation Sean Kingston, the two take on dating on “Yahama Mama,” as they sing about being “Gs” and one night with them “will drive you crazy.”

Overall he takes the “Eazy” way out on by avoiding any sort of musical challenge and sticking with a product he already knows will make him tons of loot. Profit margins aside, Soulja Boy fails here with his limited subject matter and elementary lyrics. Yes he’ll keep the kiddies entertained for a couple of days, but life is not a game.

Originally published @ http://allhiphop.com/stories/reviewsmusic/archive/2008/12/27/20767659.aspx