Crank That (Soulja Boy)
2007 single by Soulja Boy Tell`em

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" is the debut single by American rapper Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. It served as the lead single from his debut studio album, souljaboytellem.com (2007) and accompanies the Soulja Boy dance. The song is recognized by its looping steelpan riff. It caused what has been called "the biggest dance fad since the Macarena", with an instructional YouTube video for the dance surpassing 27 million views by early 2008.
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" spent seven weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 2007, and was the number 21 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. The song received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song at the 50th Grammy Awards but lost to Kanye West's song "Good Life". On January 6, 2008, it became the first song ever to sell 3 million digital copies in the US. In 2009 it was named the 23rd most successful song of the 2000s on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. It had sold 5,080,000 downloads in the US by February 2014.
Outside of the United States, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Production and release
Soulja Boy—real name DeAndre Way—was raised in Batesville, Mississippi.
The public source identifies “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” as 2007 single by Soulja Boy Tell`em. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Crank, Soulja and single.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”, the useful work is to connect “2007 single by Soulja Boy Tell`em” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2329163. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2014.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Crank That (Soulja Boy) primary sources, Crank That (Soulja Boy) archive and Crank research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.