''iSouljaBoyTellem'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Soulja Boy DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to prominence with his self-released 2007 debut single, "Crank That ...

. It was released on December 16, 2008, by Collipark Music, Stacks on Deck Entertainment and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. The album was mostly produced by Soulja Boy, along with several

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

s such as Drumma Boy,

J. R. Rotem Jonathan Reuven Rotem (born July 23, 1975) is a South African-born American record producer, songwriter and music publisher. Biography Early life Rotem was born in July 23, 1975 in Johannesburg, South Africa to Jewish Israeli people, Israe ...

, Jim Jonsin, Tha Bizness and

Zaytoven Xavier Lamar Dotson (born January 12, 1980), known professionally as Zaytoven, is an American record producer from Atlanta, Georgia. He has released collaborative projects with artists including Gucci Mane, Usher, Future, Young Dolph, Mig ...

, as well as the

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...

, Shawty Lo and

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, singer, and record executive. Rooted in Memphis rap, he released five independent albums—''Youngsta's on a Come Up'' (1996), ''From da Dope ...

, among others. The album was supported by three singles: "

Bird Walk "Bird Walk" is the first single from Soulja Boy's 2008 album '' iSouljaBoyTellem''. Song information The song was performed on the first '' YouTube Live'' on November 22, 2008, with an introduction from MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (bo ...

", " Kiss Me Thru the Phone" featuring Sammie, and " Turn My Swag On". ''iSouljaBoyTellem'' debuted at number 43 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 46,000 copies in its first week. The album received negative reviews from music critics, who saw it as recycled material from his previous album.

Background

The album's first original single was intended to be "iDance", which was released online back in 2008. However, the song was dropped from the album for unknown reasons, with the possibility of "Bird Walk" catering more than towards Soulja Boy's original breakout single "

Crank That (Soulja Boy) "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 ...

Singles

" was released as the album's lead single on October 7, 2008. The song only managed to peak at number 2 on the US

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

. " Kiss Me Thru the Phone" featuring Sammie, was released as the album's second single on November 25, 2008. The song peaked at number 3 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

, becoming the rapper's second top ten hit on the chart. " Turn My Swag On" was released as the album's third single on October 21, 2008. The song peaked at number 19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States.

Other songs

The music video for "Soulja Boy Tell 'Em" was released on November 9, 2008. The music video for "Gucci Bandanna" featuring

and Shawty Lo, was released on April 23, 2009.

Critical reception

''iSouljaBoyTellem'' received negative reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s, who felt that it was recycled material from his previous album.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's David Jeffries said that the album came up short when trying to re-create the success of "Crank That" but praised "Shopping Spree" in that it "suggests some crossover hopes and desire for hardcore rap acceptance." Steve 'Flash' Juon of ''RapReviews'' said that the music "improved drastically" but still found the lyrics to be "as vapid and materialistic as it was before," concluding with, "Your best bet is to find a website you can listen to snippets of this album on and if one or two tracks strike your fancy, buy those. A whole album of SB's idiotic raps is still too much for one man or woman to take no matter how much better the beats are." Writing for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Christian Hoard also commented on how the beats were more bulky but the delivery in the songs lacked charm in them.

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

commented: “He's been accused of writing specifically for the lucrative ringtone market and his songs do seem to be about catchy ten second hooks which are then repeated ad infinitum. Still, it's difficult to knock a teenager who says his aim is to make non-violent rap about partying and having fun.”

Track listing

Sample credits * "Yamaha Mama" contains a sample of " Stuntin' Like My Daddy", written and performed by

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

and Birdman.

Personnel

Adapted from the ''iSouljaBoyTellem'' liner notes. * Michael "Mr. ColliPark" Crooms:

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

* Derrick Crooms: Collipark Music A&R, Rockfort Management * Kevin "Coach K" Lee: A&R * Charlotte Crooms: Collipark Music Administrative Coordinator * Phillip Ransom, Esq.: Music Legal Representation for Soulja Boy * Karl Marcellus Washington, Esq.: Legal Representation for Collipark Music Inc. * DJ Mormile & Manny Smith: Interscope A&R * Kevin Black: A&R * Orlando McGhee: A&R * Terrence Nelson: A&R Coordinator * Brian Washington: marketing director * Ravid Yosef: All Things Mobile * Aaron Foreman & Kendra Ellis:

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based Information technology, digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and service ...

* Greg Miller:

publicity In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The sub ...

* Randy Sosin:

video production Video production is the process of producing video content. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard drives, SSDs, ...

* Michael Cole & Jennifer Zeller: video promotion * Don Robinson: international marketing * Erika Savage: business affairs * Ianthe Zevos: creative * SLANG Inc.:

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

* Zach Wolfe:

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

* Cliff Feiman: production supervisor

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isouljaboytellem 2008 albums Albums produced by Drumma Boy Albums produced by Jim Jonsin Albums produced by Mr. Collipark Albums produced by Polow da Don Albums produced by Zaytoven Interscope Records albums Soulja Boy albums