When he released his hit single “Crank Dat (Soulja Boy),” DeAndre Way was 16 years old. He had been creating and sharing his music for a few years prior to releasing what would become the internet’s first real viral hit.
The hip-hop community is generally abrasive towards new faces, and Soulja Boy was no exception. He had taken over radio play with a silly dance song and had built up his following on the internet. Several rap legends and peers of Soulja Boy hurled insults at him. Media outlets and internet communities described his relevance as fleeting.
Everyone thought he got lucky. Like he didn’t deserve to be there.
Soulja responded with “Turn My Swag On”
No lyrical complexity. Minimal rhyming. Off-key singing. A big “FUCK YOU” to the haters.
Life is about finding balance, right? Many times, we must humble ourselves and receive insight from the world around us. But sometimes, you shut out the noise and believe in yourself.
Avoid putting yourself above criticism. Nobody’s perfect. Expect and accept it.
However, the world will be sufficiently hostile toward your goals and passions, don’t join them.
Soulja Boy was a kid with a dream to make it big as a rapper. After creating and releasing music for years, he created the song that helped him break through to achieving his dreams. And after all that, he was put down by peers, idols, the media, and the public. Everybody told him he did it the wrong way and that he didn’t deserve it.
He could have believed them and stopped releasing music. He could have believed them and switched his style to be more lyrical. He decided to double down.
As we walk down our life paths, sometimes the path gets unbearably dark, so keeping a light is important. Many elements work to throw us off the path, natural or otherwise. If it wasn’t enough to shield our flame against natural elements and occurrences, we must often protect our light from those who walk along the path with us.
You must be the one to protect your flame from the elements working to snuff it out.