Soulja Boy is widely considered to be the first internet rapper who paved the way for all these artists who have exploded through social media. Big Draco loves taking credit for starting trends, and now he's back with another bold claim about his pioneering moves.
As part of a recent visit to It's Tricky With Raquel Harper, Soulja Boy spoke about his legacy and said TikTok wouldn't be what it is today without his meteoric breakout in the mid-2000s, which sparked the "Crank That" dance craze.
“I got Beyoncé doing the ‘Crank That (Soulja Boy)!'” he said, “I created TikTok! It wouldn’t be no TikTok if it wasn’t for Soulja Boy.”
He added, “[The owner of TikTok] heard ‘Crank That (Soulja Boy)’ too! He seen the video too! He was like, ‘I’m finna make this app right now. Look at these dances, this is a great way to make money, kids dancing to a song.’ Can I get my 10 percent, TikTok?”
Regardless of the validity of his claims, Soulja Boy has found a lot of success on TikTok. Billboard's Top Triller US chart was topped by Big Draco's "She Make It Clap" in April 2021.
The song rankings on these specific charts are based on a formula combining the amount of views videos featuring the songs receive, engagement levels, and the raw number of videos uploaded. “She Make it Clap” became a viral hit on TikTok and soon went to No. 1 on the app’s chart.