RODMG - Respect on Deck Money Group (A Semi-Serious Defense of Mr. Way)

Those aren't tears. HIS TEAR DUCTS JUST FORGOT TO TURN ITS SWAG OFF. Next time, when you go to an awards ceremony, keep your swag, and phone, on vibrate.

DeAndre Cortez Way is, by any metric, quite successful. He is, for the most part, not loved. Being called the "Worst Artist in American Music History" is the most flattering insult that can bestowed on an artist. If you're unknown and wack, well, there's a reason you're unknown. But, if you've been successful enough that there's a legion of people who, rightly or wrongly, dislike your music/style/you enough that they'll declare you the WORST in the history of EVER? Worse than this? How about this? Or maybe this?

Quick aside/rant: HOLY MOTHER OF HUMANS. LAFFY TAFFY WENT #1 IN THE STATES. HOW?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!?! I know, I know. One-hit wonders are sprinkled all over the charts throughout history. Still, this song is definitely in my Top 5 most unlikely chart-toppers. Ever.

Look at this resume.

Grammy-nominated. Okay, so maybe this is a group/organization/cult/circle-jerk that nominated "Low" and "Candy Shop". The same group that thought"Lollipop" and "Money Maker" should win one. The same group that let Ludacris win one for Release Therapy...while KING, FOOD & LIQUOR, AND GAME THEORY WERE IN THE SAME CATEGORY. (Why am I even bringing this up? This is not helping...). 

Despite all of this, of all the dance crazes of the double-zeros (see: 00s), this one resonated with the world. Shoulder Lean, Leanin' Wit It, Stanky Leg, Chicken Noodle Soup; none were shown Grammy love. This was a HUGE song. The Grammys tend to show love to songs that were either a) good, b) inescapable, or c) commercially successful. Crank Dat was undoubtedly the last two. With lyrics like this, some (read: me) might argue it was all three:

You catch me at your local party
Yes I crank it everyday
Haters getting mad cause
"I got me some bathing apes"

PLATINUM...because of one song. Look, Teach Me How to Dougie was big. The Kickback didn't go platinum. Snap Yo Fingers was big AND it was a Lil Jon track...that album flopped. You're a Jerk was big...New Boyz, not so much. They got stuck doing songs with Brandy's brother. Crank Dat went #1. Souljaboytellem.com was in the Top 5. People wrote him off as a one-hit wonder...THEN HE CAME BACK WITH THIS SONG. AND THEN CAME THIS BANGER. And then finally, he dropped this gem of a track. (sidebar: The video for Pretty Boy Swag also blessed us with this gem of a .gif):

                                         

How many people in the world can make Pretty Boy Swag hot? Can you count them on two hands? One? None?

In addition...

• NEVER SOLD OUT. We knew what he was about since DAY 1. Consistency is key.
• "Turn My Swag On" has entered the lexicon of hip-hop and music fans worldwide (i.e. me)
• hop up out my beeeeeeddddd, turn my swag on...
• also included: YAAAAA TRICK YAAAAA,
• succeeded where Chris Rock couldn't
• the biggest dance crazes of this millennium are, in some order: Crank Dat, Snap Yo Fingers, the Dougie, Single Ladies, Gangnam Style, Party Rock/Shufflin'
• groundbreaking with respect to digital sales and ringtones; provided new and viable streams of revenue for fledgling artists
• a mainstay on BET; almost guaranteed to have at least one video in rotation every time "BET Now" rolls around
• has started/engaged in beefs of various sizes with Nas, Ice-T, Charles Hamilton, the UNITED STATES MILITARY, Fabolous, and Hopsin
• helped bring the word "swag" to the mainstream

Want to hate the game? Go right ahead - just don't hate on the player.

(Well...you can hate the Game...)

Soulja Boy has been around for over 5 years now and, to the surprise of many, hasn't dropped off the face of the Earth. He's still here; cashing in those iTunes cheques. In the next year, he'll drop another stupid/inane/brilliant song. It'll be hot. He's one of rap's stepfathers - hate him, but you will respect.

Where there's a will, there is a Way, but it will be done Deandre's Way.