I got soul but i'm not a Soulja

This weekend, Crank That by Soulja Boy will be going into the top 3. Nothing wrong with that, right? It's sort of admirable, really. The guy's 17, produces his own stuff and thanks to a combination of shameless self promotion and Youtube luckiness, he's had one of the biggest hits of the year in the US. What's more extraordinary is that Crank That sounds nothing like anything else in the charts. And it's an absolutely fucking terrifying pop song. We're talking Marble House/Waking The Witch levels of fear here.

Take a look at the video:



On the surface, it's basically your typical hip-hop crossover promo, albeit on a tiny looking budget (and the label signed him purely on the merits of some kids dancing? It's no wonder the record industry's fucked). Until it gets to the part where the elderly woman with buck teeth comes in. Oh God, oh Jesus Christ. It's like an Aphex Twin video, innit? It's the Cha-Cha Slide directed by Chris Cunningham. The Macarena meets Windowlicker. You get the idea, i'm sure.

And that's without even getting to the song itself. The most barren sounding US urban single since Me & U, nothing happens, basically. Using just a steel drum, cleverly placed hi-hats and finger clicks, and hits that put the fear of god into to me, he manages to make it last close to four minutes. Four minutes. If The Knife had put out something like this, probably without using the phrase "Superman that ho" though, the reception would probably be 'it's a bit avante garde, isn't it?'. That it got to the top of the charts in America is testament to the power of tip-exed sunglasses and a dance the kids can copy.

Even though it's abso-fucking-lutley terrifying, and the video has old lady badteeth, it's managed to do what few pop songs can- connect with a young audience in a massive way- to the extent that they'll go on Youtube and learn the dance. You think shit like Scouting For Girls inspires that kind of devotion? I'd take it over that self-satisfied, Britney-cribbing D.A.N.C.E crap. Mainly cos Soulja Boy has better t-shirts, no?