The DeAndre Way By Soulja Boy

Having ever since his breakthrough single–2007's "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"–been the recipient of almost unremitting scorn from critics, rappers, rap fans, bloggers, vloggers and disgruntled groupies alike, the Chicagoan "snap" rapper Soulja Boy (also known as Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, born DeAndre Way–hence, the punning title of his fourth and latest studio album) has acquired the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most hated emcees in recent memory. Whether its his atonal, braying delivery–somewhere between Chingy and Gucci Mane–dance rap's widespread lack of credibility or his generally twerpy appearance, Soulja Boy seemingly can, in the eyes of his numerous detractors, do no right. Be that as it may, The DeAndre Way, despite its inconsistencies, and thought it is, at times, compromised by Soulja Boy's dopey delivery, makes a strong case for the artist being more than a mere chancer.

One of the most egregiously silly performances can be found on the album's opening track, "First Day of School"–a song probably implemented to play up the now 20-year-old Soulja Boy's being a boy wonder–a track which is, nevertheless, resurrected by a strong, understated production by R3$ource. And though Soulja Boy seems to be, at times, going out of his way to create sounds that are unmusical, even by the standards of southern rap–a style partially characterized by the atonal sing-song delivery of many of its artists, in contrast with the monotone conversational style of west coast rappers and the slightly more musical, jazz-inflected cadence of those of the east–his performance appears to be infused with something like genuine emotion and therefore cannot be entirely bad. Similarly effective is "Touchdown", which has all the makings of a minor hit: based around the simple yet somehow always effective i – III chord progression, played here by a synthesized brass band, and punctuated by the ever-popular "space age lift-off" sound effect, the song also features some decent almost-singing by Soulja Boy.

"Hey Cutie" has him actually singing, which isn't a bad thing, features instrumentation that sounds eerily like a music box and an excellent hook and second verse sung brilliantly by Trey Songz, strongly invoking R. Kelly. The third single, "Speakers Going Hammer" loses points for its obnoxious hook, but regains them for Boi-1da's multi-segemented cartoon beat. Lead single "Pretty Boy Swag" is actually quite difficult to characterize: musically, it's fairly unexciting and fresh off of the production line–in the future, when all pop songs are produced by algorithmic music generators, there will be a lot more music like this–but Soulja Boy's comically dramatic downright weird delivery is of some interest; the Soulja Boy-produced "30 Thousand 100 Million," apart from being boring, is also slightly unlistenable.

The Drumma Boy-produced "Mean Mug" is a vast improvement–though, like the preceding two tracks, can't help but recall any number of cheesy '80s horror movie soundtracks with its bright, jangly synth-bells of–featuring an excellent verse by 50 Cent, one which perhaps impelled Soulja Boy to rise to the occasion as he, in turn, delivers one of the finest of his career. This is followed by the album's second single, "Blowing Me Kisses", which is a shameless club anthem that breaks no new ground but works quite well nonetheless, and "Fly" which is probably best ignored. Concluding the brief set–35 minutes, obviously short by today's standards and a little over half the length of his previous effort, iSouljaBoyTellem–is a less successful attempt at a crossover hit, what's worse, a sentimental one, "Fly" featuring Ester Dean–this track might actually be "technically" unlistenable, as whoever engineered it clumsily rendered Ester Dean's vocals a bit too loud in the mix. All in all, The DeAndre Way is a promising effort.