Soulja Boy Podcast

Summary

Souljacast Episode 1: The Soulja Boy Podcast
Host: Jack Greene
Guests: Bryson and Logan
Date: November 12, 2020

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Episode Overview

In this lively debut episode, Jack Greene and his friends Bryson and Logan take a deep dive into the eccentric post-fame business ventures and controversies surrounding rapper Soulja Boy. The trio candidly discuss Soulja Boy’s foray into the gaming industry, particularly his infamous game consoles, as well as his broader track record in entertainment, legal troubles, and brushes with infamy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Soulja Boy’s Gaming Console Controversy

• Repackaged Chinese Consoles:
  • Bryson details how Soulja Boy bought “consoles from a Chinese industry and then just marked the price up by like 66%” (00:58).
  • The consoles relied on illegal ROMs—game memory images—raising immediate copyright and piracy concerns.
• False Advertising and Hardware Issues:
  • Jack points out that the consoles were advertised with “more copyrighted games as well as more than it could hold” (01:17).
  • Many customers received units “without a power cord” or with cords that “didn’t even work and couldn’t play the console” (02:06).
• Lack of Licensing and Legal Threats:
  • “Zero licensing for any of this stuff,” the hosts emphasize (03:15), leading to Soulja Boy shutting down the operation after legal threats, mostly from Nintendo.
• Technical Inferiority:
  • The console ran on outdated Linux or Windows 7 software, making it “basically a bad computer for running ROMs” (03:35).

2. Attempts at Reviving Fame Beyond Music

• Short-Lived Successes:
  • After “his whole one hit wonder with Crank That,” the group agrees he mostly “milked most of these songs and spent too much money on stupid stuff and now he’s pretty much in debt” (03:43).
• Fashion and Acting:
  • They recall attempts at “fashion designing” and “acting,” the latter being described as “a Soulja Boy based movie and canceled cartoon” (04:41).
• Quote: “So somebody totally isn’t full of themselves.” (05:01, Jack)

3. Public Controversies and Legal Issues

• Military Controversy:
  • Jack mentions, “he said he doesn’t think any of the people in the military deserve respect,” triggering swift and “understandable hate,” leading to a quick apology (05:05).
• Frequent Arrests:
  • Bryson notes a history of incarceration: “He went to jail a couple times… got out 100 days early (on good behavior)” (06:29, 06:43).
  • Discussion on being “found with firearms and drug cases being found in cars and... his home, giving him probation” (08:38).
• Name Lawsuits:
  • Soulja Boy was reportedly “sued for having the name Soulja Boy,” a moniker allegedly originating from a 1996 rap group, Mo Thugs Family (07:48, 08:09).

4. Exaggerated Claims and Delusions of Grandeur

• Claiming to Invent the NES:
  • Jack highlights Soulja Boy’s false claim: “Didn't he claim to make the NES? He did. Which wasn't created about seven years before he was born.” (09:44)
  • “He was going to make sure Nintendo gives him a cut of his deserved profits, which is clearly delusional…” (10:03)
• Business Deals:
  • Soulja Boy bragged about a “$400 million” deal with a poker company, which was actually the contract’s upper limit, “which obviously wasn’t reached” (07:23).

5. Knockoff Product Lines

• Handheld Consoles and Missed Naming Opportunities:
  • Soulja Boy’s “DS kind of mobile” console is discussed: “He really missed out on calling it the Soulja Boy… that would have been immaculate” (11:49).
• Apple Watch Knockoff:
  • Jack identifies “a smartwatch knockoff” on Soulja Boy’s website, with Logan noting it “does look very similar to an Apple Watch” but is “definitely a bootleg” (13:08-13:13).
  • Quote: “It may look cool, but, I mean, I'd rather have something that works than something that just breaks.” (13:13, Logan)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You’re definitely not gonna get them for free when you’re paying the $200 console fee…without a power cord.” (02:00, Jack)
• “Keep in mind these guys zero licensing for any of this stuff.” (03:15, Jack)
• “He could have ripped off the Game Boy as well and just called it the Soldier Boy. That would have been immaculate.” (11:49, Jack)
• “Didn’t he claim to make the NES? …Which wasn’t created about seven years before he was born.” (09:44, Jack)
• “It may look cool, but, I mean, I'd rather have something that works than something that just breaks.” (13:13, Logan)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:58 - Soulja Boy’s knockoff consoles and price hikes
• 01:51 - Discussion of emulator piracy and legality
• 03:15 - Legal threats and zero licensing
• 05:05 - Military controversy and public apology
• 06:43 - Jail time and good behavior release
• 07:48 - Name lawsuit discussion
• 09:44 - “Inventing” the NES
• 11:49 - Missed branding with handheld consoles
• 13:08 - Soulja Boy’s Apple Watch knockoff and the verdict on its quality

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Final Thoughts

With wit and a critical lens, Jack, Bryson, and Logan dissect Soulja Boy’s unconventional business moves, checkered public image, and apparent disconnect from reality. Their playful banter brings humor to the absurdities, while also underscoring the legal and ethical implications of Soulja Boy’s “entrepreneurial” path.

The episode provides both laughs and a cautionary tale—a must-listen for anyone intrigued by celebrity forays into tech and business blunders.

Transcript

[A]

Hello and welcome to episode one of the podcast with my friends Bryson and Logan.

[B]

Hello.

[A]

Hey, what's up? It's Bryson.

[B]

This is Logan.

[A]

So today we wanted to talk about Soulja Boy over the last few years, some of the things he's pulled, especially with the whole buying and selling game consoles. Do you want to go into any further detail on that? Anything about he's buying it from China, marking up the prices?

[B]

Yeah, they. I believe he increased, like, he had bought them from a Chinese industry and then just marked the price up by like 66% around. All right.

[A]

And didn't it promise a whole lot more copyrighted games as well as more than it could hold?

[B]

Yeah. Not only that, the console had run off of roms, which is run, which just means run off memory. So it just takes the memory from the game and throws it onto the console and it's just not that good of a thing to do. Plus Nintendo's already getting rid of all that anyways.

[A]

Isn't that illegal anyways?

[B]

Pretty much, yeah. It's basically pirating games. You won't pay for it. You just get them for free. Download the game and there you go.

[A]

Oh, you. You're still. You're definitely not gonna get them for free when you're paying the $200 console fee.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Without a power cord.

[B]

Yeah, that. The power cord. Many people, when they got their consoles, said the power cord didn't even work and couldn't play the console.

[A]

Do you think it was just a standard power cord or a specialized one?

[B]

I don't really know.

[A]

But what do you estimate?

[B]

What?

[A]

What do you estimate? What do you think?

[B]

I think it was probably just the power cable that just came with the console when he bought it, and it was just like, you know what? I'm just gonna send it out with it, even though it's probably trash.

[A]

Yeah. Who knows if he even took them to a warehouse, if he even just bought and sold it and sent it straight through the Chinese company.

[B]

He probably just bought it and threw it in some storage until somebody bought one and then just took it out of storage. And.

[A]

Well, what I was saying was getting it off the Chinese website and then just putting in their address.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Keep in mind these guys zero licensing for any of this stuff. Oh, of course.

[B]

Of course.

[A]

Zero. And he just had to shut it down not too long ago because he was getting so many threats for being sued. I mean, heck, it was running, what, Linux 3.0. So it's just basically a bad computer for running ROMs?

[B]

Pretty much.

[A]

Pretty much. An old Windows 7. Yeah. So further on the topic of him, what do you guys know about his past life? Anything after his whole one hit wonder with Crank that I think he had one more song and that's about it. And he just milked most of these songs and spent too much money on stupid stuff and now he's pretty much in debt. Didn't he try to dip his fingers in too many people's glass, like, you know, trying to do too many things at once?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

What were some of those things? I think he did try to get into a fashion designing, wasn't he?

[B]

Yeah, I think he was also into acting or tried doing that.

[A]

Yeah, I think I do remember him trying to act. It wasn't very successful and most of his quote unquote acting was a soldier boy based movie and canceled cartoon.

[B]

Hmm.

[A]

So somebody totally isn't full of themselves.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Didn't he get into a lot of controversies with other people too, including the US Military? That I haven't seen. You haven't seen that? I was looking at that. And he apologized to them fairly quickly. But he, he started with saying that he doesn't think that. I think it was something along the lines of he doesn't think any of the people in the military deserve respect. And within a few days, with the amount of understandable hate that he got, he quickly apologized.

[B]

Yeah, I would definitely, I'd probably apologize like immediately. Cuz getting like just even saying stuff about them and just all the bad things they've said or he said isn't really like. A really good thing to do to, you know, armed forces.

[A]

So now who, who else did he get into controversies with? Is there any more than that?

[B]

Uh,

[A]

cause there's definitely a lot of people.

[B]

Well, yeah, I know he went to jail a couple times.

[A]

Yeah. Can you go into detail with that? Any of those times? Isn't he currently in prison right now?

[B]

I don't.

[A]

Or at least recently got out?

[B]

I think he got out. He was supposed to be in for over two days, I think almost 300 days. But he got out 100 days early.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Because he promised or was good behavior and got out.

[A]

Well, with the amount of money he has, who knows how much bail he's been paying.

[B]

Yeah, I think the last time he had gotten arrested was in like 2019.

[A]

Mm. Because I had read that his estimated net worth was about 10 to 20 million.

[B]

Right now I saw something about 30

[A]

million 2s, which is a lot. But he had made bragging about him signing a contract with, I believe the World Poker holding association, something along those lines for. He said 400 million, but that was the upper limit, which obviously wasn't reached.

[B]

I also think he was sued for having the name Soulja Boy.

[A]

Yeah. Wasn't that a name of somebody in a previous rap group of some sort? Believe so. Wasn't it the. I think it was something called the Mo Thugs fan family from 1996.

[B]

I don't think I've ever heard of it. But if it was from 1996, that was definitely before Soulja Boy and that

[A]

was when he was growing up. So who knows when he either picked it up on purpose, just blatantly stole it, or he subconsciously heard it and just didn't even think about him and took it as.

[B]

Yeah, just brought it back into his mind, couldn't remember if it was from anywhere and just took it.

[A]

Oh, look at all these charges, guys. Yeah. So we were trying to get touched on and he got in a lot of trouble with firearms and drug cases being found in cars and was it his home found with firearms giving him probation?

[B]

I think that was some sort 2016.

[A]

I think it was. Yes, it was 2016. October. Just about.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

Yeah. And then there's the Finding a gun under his seat, finding marijuana in the vehicle in Georgia or in California and Georgia, respectively. I think that's most of what he's done in his life, despite the. Besides the alleged kidnapping. But we don't know whether that's true or not. So I don't want to go into that if it's not true.

[B]

Hold on. Didn't he claim to make the nes?

[A]

He did. He did. Which wasn't created about seven. Seven years before he was born.

[B]

Yeah. Pretty sure it was 1983. 83. Yeah. Somewhere around there.

[A]

Yeah. When he was born in 1990, he even said that he was going to make sure Nintendo gives him a cut of his deserved profits, which is clearly delusional since he's the one who probably owes Nintendo money due to the slander and pirating piracy other games.

[B]

Now, I don't know if he threw. I believe the Chinese company was the one who threw the ROMs onto the console. Just so you were able to play.

[A]

Most likely. Especially since China doesn't tend to have any very strict copyright laws, which causes many things to be pirated or. Or cheap knockoffs.

[B]

Yeah, even. Even though they have ROMs and you're just able to play the games, the games are most likely just low quality, crappy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Mootle games. And I believe most of them were in Chinese and not, like, English, which probably understandable, considering it's a Chinese console.

[A]

So that does make sense. And I believe that the console, its original form was only found off of a Chinese website. So

[B]

that way, not only couldn't find it on Amazon, it was on Amazon.

[A]

Well, through him.

[B]

Yeah. But it's gone now.

[A]

Of course. Of course.

[B]

Not only is he selling like a console, he was selling like a. A DS kind of mobile. Yeah.

[A]

Wasn't it, like, the Soulja Boy handheld console or something?

[B]

Yeah, something like that.

[A]

He really missed out on calling it the Soulja Boy out of all the chances he had. He could have called it the Soulja Boy after the whole claim about the Nintendo Entertainment System. And he could have ripped off the Game Boy as well and just called it the Soldier Boy. That would have been immaculate.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Immaculate name.

[B]

Yeah. A really good name.

[A]

But is there anything else that we had on him? Oh, didn't he make an Apple Watch knockoff as well?

[B]

Yeah, I don't know if it was an Apple Watch knockoff, but I know he makes watches. Smartwatch, probably.

[A]

I'm pretty sure it was a smartwatch knockoff.

[B]

I did go to his website once, and whenever I went to his website, it just showed, like, normal, like, watches. Just normal.

[A]

Who knows? He probably could have bought and sold another cheap Chinese knockoff smart watch.

[B]

That is true.

[A]

If that's all you guys have, I think I'm gonna start winding it down for this episode. Oh, here's the. Here's the knockoff one. Oh, yeah, I see. It does look very similar to an Apple watch. Doesn't look half bad.

[B]

No, but it is probably crap.

[A]

It is definitely. That is definitely a bootleg.

[B]

Yeah, it may look cool, but, I mean, I'd rather have something that works than something that just breaks and.

[A]

Oh, yeah. So we're gonna start winding it down. We'll see you guys on the next episode.