Photo: Jared Milgram

• Rihanna
• Kanye West
• Soulja Boy Tell'em
• Clipse
• Young Dro

Soulja Boy Tell'em
Photo: Jared Milgram

Behind the Beats: Soulja Boy Tell'em

Soulja Boy Tell'em has jumped from behind the knobs into the forefront as a performer — he just released three mixtapes on Halloween: Cortez, Paranormal Activity and DatPiff. But don't forget, the young G still knows how to make beats. One of Soulja's biggest fans, Kanye West, recently had the Southern millionaire in the lab working for him.

"Me as a producer, I think I've grown tremendously," Soulja told us recently in L.A. "I've been in the studio with Kanye. I did three tracks for him back-to-back."

Soulja says the sessions were give and take.

"Me working with him, collaborating different beats," he explained. "Him showing me a lot of stuff I didn't know. Me showing him a lot of stuff he didn't know. He had an ear for my sound. Of course I had an ear for all the stuff he did. Genius! You know what I mean?

"The process with Kanye — he'll come in and it depends on what it is," Soulja continued. "If I'm making the beat from scratch, I'll just work. If he's got a sample ... It was three different samples that we was working on. On one of them, he was like, 'I want this to go here, I want you to do this.' I like when an artist pushes me how he was pushing me. He doesn't go easy on me. I make it and be like, 'Here.' Nah, I had to go over it several times. It can be frustrating too. At the same time, sitting there trying to make a beat for the person that's right in front of you, it can be a lot of pressure, but it's all fun. At the end of the day, we're making hit music."

Soulja is also cranking out tracks for his next LP, The DeAndre Way.

Next Wave of Flav

On Jamie Foxx: "I was in the studio with him a couple of days ago working on a new beat for him. All the artists that reached out to me for beats — like Rihanna — my portfolio is only getting longer and longer."

On Rihanna: "With this particular project [it was] like, 'Whoa!' because [her rep was] like, 'Yo, I need you to do something for Rihanna's album. You got 11 hours. Go!' It was like, 'What? I'm all out of pocket.' How do you make something that's gonna be a #1 hit so fast? But it's been done before because I made 'Crank That' in 30 minutes."

Five-Star Stellar Hits

» "Crank That"
» V.I.C. - "Get Silly"
» Bow Wow - "Marco Polo"
» "Gucci Bandana"
» "Donk"
» "Yahhh!"

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: Soulja Boy Tell'em, Kanye West, Rihanna, More

• Soulja Boy Tell'em
• Kanye West
• Rihanna

Chris Brown
Photo: Jason LaVeris/ FilmMagic

Together, Chris Brown and Soulja Boy Tell'em have the type of star power that could resurrect the Scream Tour.

The duo have collaborated on a record together for Brown's forthcoming Graffiti album, "Bad." Both spoke to MTV News about the song recently, saying it's definitely one the ladies will enjoy.

"Well, me and him, we been on tour together and we're friends, so I was just like, 'Yo, I gotta do a record with Soulja Boy,' " Brown said. "Because me and him are always gonna have, like, this kind of energy, just as far as kids, and with him, he does records that are, like, the easiest records ever. I'm not discrediting him, 'cause they're big records, but he could talk about, 'I got my shoes on, I got my hat on, but I'm fresh though,' and it could be something funny. But it's always something that can be catchy for kids, and I wanna do something that's real cool for everybody.

"Me and him did this record called 'Bad' — it's a nice little joint. I talk about this girl, [saying,] 'She fine.' So it's kinda cool."

Soulja Boy said he knew expectations for the collabo would be high, so the rapper was extra focused when he put pen to pad.

"My approach to it was, 'If me and Chris Brown ever did a song together, it got to be the best song ever,' " he said. "When people hear it, it gotta be automatic — be in all the kids' heads, all the girls definitely gotta love it, all the females gotta love it. That was my approach to it. I was just thinking, 'What is the slickest lines I could say to a female to make them fall in love with this record?' "

• 'Chris Brown: The Interview'

• Chris Brown
• Soulja Boy Tell'em

Soulja Boy Tell'em
Photo: James Lacsina/ MTV News

Talk about an awesome — if awkward — honor. Soulja Boy Tell'em revealed to MTV News this week that he will have the unique distinction of appearing on the upcoming albums by both Chris Brown and Rihanna.

"With this particular project [it was] like, 'Whoa!' because it was like, 'Yo, I need you to do something for Rihanna's album. You got 11 hours. Go," Soulja Boy said about the last-minute call to work on an unspecified track from Rihanna's upcoming Rated R disc.

"It was like, 'What?' " The challenge, he said, was how to cook up some verses that would help make a #1 hit in such a short time. Luckily, he had plenty of experience with working fast, thanks to the 30 minutes he said it took him to write his breakthrough hit, "Crank That."

The pressure was not as intense when he got the call to guest on a track from Rihanna's ex, Brown. "I got nothing but love for Chris, that's my homeboy," said Soulja of the singer, whose Graffiti will be his first release since his assault on Rihanna in February. "He called me up and he was like, 'Yo, I need you on this song for my album. Will you come through?' "

The answer, of course, was yes — and the result is a tune titled "She's Bad."  

"My approach to it was, if me and Chris Brown ever did a song together it got to be the best song ever," he said. "When people hear it, it gotta be automatic, be in all the kids' heads, all the girls definitely gotta love it, all the females gotta love it. That was my approach to it. I was just thinking, 'What is the slickest lines I could say to a female to make them fall in love with this record?' "

Fans can hear the results when Rated R drops on November 23 and Graffiti is released three weeks later.

• Soulja Boy Tell'em
• Chris Brown
• Rihanna

Photo: MTV News

• Polow Da Don
• Jay-Z
• Busta Rhymes
• Soulja Boy Tell'em
• DJ Khaled

Soulja Boy Tell'em
Photo: Jared Milgram

Don't Sleep: Necessary Notables

Mixtapes: Paranormal Activity, DatPiff and Cortez

Headliner: Soulja Boy Tell'em

Co-Starring: DJ Woogie and DJ Neptune (Paranormal Activity), DJ Holiday (DatPiff) and DJ Whoo Kid and DJ Scream (Cortez)

Essential Info: Soulja Boy is taking a page out of homie Gucci Mane's handbook and putting out three mixtapes at once — he's letting them thangs fly on Halloween. Utilizing the skills of five different DJs, Soulja said the tapes will feature three different varieties of his music.

"I wanted to have more music out and I wanted to have three different styles on three different tapes," he explained. "DatPiff, I'm just going in on all the beats. Holiday sent me a whole lot of jacked beats and said, 'Lets go in on whatever's hot,' you feel me? Zaytoven sent me 10 beats. I used, like, three. The other one [Cortez] is just how I am in the game right now and [has] all the features I did. Me and Gucci are doing all types of features together like the joint I did, Teairra Marí's new single, 'Sponsor,' then there's one with Sean Garrett called 'Throw Money' and, of course, the 'LOL :-)' joint with Trey Songz. And I have the 'Gucci Bandana' joint — all the features I recently did. The Paranormal Activity sh--, that's really the Halloween mixtape: dark beats that's gonna keep you vibing."

For the latter, Soulja said he wanted to make his musical project "better" than the hit movie.

"I actually went to the movies to see it," he said of the thriller. "But why I really wanted to drop one with that title was because it was like, 'I'mma make this one better than the movie.' The movie was straight, but I was on Twitter and the movie has been a trending topic on Twitter for, like, a month straight. Plus it's Halloween-themed — it's dropping on Halloween.

"Cortez is the beginning of a series," he added. "That's my middle name. If you go on the Web, they got my middle name listed as Ramon all over the Web sites. I don't know why. That's the beginning of a series — I might put out three or four more after I dropped that one."

DatPiff is a tip of the hat to the highly regarded mixtape site DatPiff.com, where all three mixtapes will be available for download.

Other Heat This Week

» Play N Skillz - Recession Proof
» Gucci Mane and Shawty Lo - Fright Night

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: Polow Da Don, Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, More

• Soulja Boy Tell'em

Soulja Boy Tell’em’s mug shot
Photo: Henry County Sheriff's Office

Soulja Boy Tell'em hasn't said much about his recent arrest just outside of Atlanta. But on Sunday, after performing at the BET Hip-Hop Awards at the Atlanta Civic Center the previous night, the 19-year-old rapper finally opened up about what he was doing in a dark backyard in Henry County, Georgia, last Wednesday when cops rolled up.

"Releasing the music video for 'Gangsta Muzik' later on tonight," Soulja Boy tweeted. "This is the video shoot I got arrested at. Stay tuned." According to police, Soulja Boy (born DeAndre Way) was among 40 or so people gathered in the backyard at the abandoned home in McDonough when a neighbor called police to report suspicious activity. When the cops arrived, most of the people ran, including Soulja, who was arrested a short time later when he returned to retrieve his white Range Rover.

Police arrested Soulja Boy for one count of misdemeanor obstruction and the rapper spent the night in jail. He was released the next day after posting $550 bond.

On Thursday, following his release from jail, Soulja Boy promised his Twitter fans, "I just wanna put this behind me! I'm not going back to jail!! Let's focus on the BET Awards!" He did, however, post a copy of his mug shot on the site, commenting, "Even in jail my swag was turnt up."

The new track appears on the rapper's recently released mixtape, My Way of Life. At press time, the video did not appear to have leaked online yet.

Soulja Boy has not made an official statement about the arrest, but at the BET Hip-Hop Awards, he reportedly told the network, "Man, I can't really comment on that, 'cause I ain't went to court yet ... and my answer could affect the case. I just wanna thank all my fans for supporting me through it. I ain't going back. I'm out, it's good."

A spokesperson for Soulja Boy's label had not commented on the arrest or news of the video's release at press time.

• Soulja Boy Tell'em

Mug shot taken of Soulja Boy Tell'em on Wednesday
Photo: Henry County Sheriff's Office

Soulja Boy Tell'em is out of jail after spending the night behind bars on Wednesday, following his arrest on a charge of obstruction. The rapper (born DeAndre Way), was detained when Georgia police responded to a report of juveniles hanging out in an abandoned home on Wednesday night in the McDonough area of Atlanta.

According to Captain Jason Bolton of the Henry County Police, someone called in a report of individuals hanging out at an abandoned home. When officers arrived on the scene, they found around 40 people standing in a dark backyard behind the house.

"You couldn't really tell what was going on," Bolton said. "But about half of the group ran from the officer on foot. He ordered, of course, for them to stop. ... There were several vehicles left at that location."

Bolton said that when the officer tried to speak to the remaining individuals — who were not identified by police — to figure out what was going on, he was told that they had gathered for a video shoot.

While investigating the scene, the officer figured out that one of the people who fled was Soulja Boy, 19, who eventually returned to claim his white Range Rover, which was left at the house. Upon his return, the officer charged the rapper with one count of obstruction, a misdemeanor, for running from police when he'd been ordered to stop. The rapper was released on $550 bond on Thursday morning and a follow-up court date was not available at press time.

The Henry Herald reported that 18-year-old Latice Wayne Grier was arrested on charges of forgery in the second degree during the incident after cops found eight counterfeit $100 bills in his Dodger Charger, which was also at the scene. Grier was also released from jail on Thursday, on $10,050 bond. No additional arrests were made at the scene, though the Herald reported that police also found a 9mm handgun in a white Lexus on the scene but were unable to determine whose it was.

A spokesperson for Soulja Boy had no comment on the arrest at press time. It was unknown what video the rapper, who frequently posts viral videos on his Web site, was shooting before the incident.

Soulja hit Twitter on Friday (October 9) to move his fans' focus from the jail stint to Saturday's BET Awards. "To all my fans, I just wanna put this behind me!" he tweeted. "I'm not going back to jail!! Let's focus on the BET Awards! :)"

[This story was originally published at 12:10 pm E.T. on 10.09.2009]

• Soulja Boy Tell'em

Rosa Acosta and Soulja Boy Tell'em
Photo: rosaacosta.com

On Thursday, rumors began circulating on the web that Soulja Boy Tell'em had gotten engaged to model/ video star Rosa Acosta — according to Acosta's manager and a source in Soulja Boy's camp, the rumors are false.

Acosta's manager, Charles Garner, told MTV News on Friday (September 25) that the rumors began after the pair was seen hanging out together in photos on the model's Web site. In the photos, Acosta is seen wearing what looks like an engagement ring — however, her manager said the ring wasn't a gift from Soulja Boy, but her mother. A source in Soulja Boy's camp also told MTV News that the rumors are untrue.

"So the story is that the proposal is false," Garner said in an e-mail to MTV News. "Miss Acosta is still very much single. She was in L.A. filming the Chris Brown video (featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz) with several other models. Soulja Boy was in L.A. He's been with friends with Rosa for awhile and asked if she and the other girls wanted to go to dinner.

"So he took her and four other girls to dinner, [during] which some playful pictures were taken as 'behind the scenes' for Miss Acosta's Web site. The ring she has on her finger is a ring that was given to her by her mother about three or four years ago and it was not given to her by Soulja Boy. The picture that everyone has up is a harmless picture where he's kissing her on the cheek. And there's about four other pictures where you see him at the table with her and the other models and he's hugging everybody."

In response to the rumors, Soulja Boy simply tweeted "LOL."

• Soulja Boy Tell'em

50 Cent and Soulja Boy
Photo: Film Majic/Getty Images

Voice of the People: 50 Cent

Last month, 50 Cent and Soulja Boy excited some fans and confused others during a West Coast stop on Young Money Presents: The America's Most Wanted Music Festival. Fif stepped onstage in California and performed with his much younger club-floor-catering peer. Those in attendance seemed to love it, but on the Net there was speculation about how and why the collaboration came together.

Reader 4EvaShady commented, "Curtis Jackson, what the **** are you doing? Get the **** off that stage and ******* bust a rap with Dre and Eminem!"

Meanwhile LAsalvi09 was way more receptive to the team-up. "Hot performance. Good stuff," they wrote.

"All the haters need to fall back," Blacko wrote. "Y'all just being negative towards two artists that did a show together? WTF is wrong with that? People who were there enjoyed it. Leave it at that. Point blank."

A reader under the handle of FriscoKid commented, "Stop being stupid, guys. Soulja wouldn't have brought 50 to the show if [50] was played out. Doesn't make sense. Soulja Boy wanted to give the tour a different look. I didn't hear anything about LeBron James being over for showing up for Young Jeezy? No chatter about Chris Brown showing up for Lil Wayne either. It's just a chance for both of them to upstage the headliners ... This may have been the best part of that night."

Well, 50 Cent told us last week exactly why he wanted to come onstage with Soulja Boy. The answer is ... well, the General doesn't have to answer to anyone. The truth is, 50 and Soulja are cool. Fif even admires the youngster for writing and producing a hit as huge as "Crank That" and said that Soulja's popularity even resonates in Eminem's crib.

That's right.

"I was at Em's house," 50 said recently. "He has a basketball court that doubles as [daughter] Hailie's dance studio. That dance studio has the hardwood floors. I watched the kids do the Soulja Boy dance to the song. They're into organized dancing. That was something they were into. They're a world way from where Soulja Boy comes from. But it's translating and it's actually a hit record and he continues to make hit records that work."

So, Fif says to kick off his homie's back and let the teenager do his thing.

On Thursday night, 50 put out the video for his new song, "Flight 187." The record is from his new mixtape, The 50th Law of Power. The street CD comes out the same day as 50's book on success, which has the same title. The video finds 50 on a doomed flight, concocting maniacal thoughts in his head and commenting on rap current events. Well, almost current.

"Jay rockin' that Urkel look — isn't he from Marcy?/ They say he growing dreads and now he's taking like a Yardie," Fif raps, referring to Jay-Z's long-gone Blueprint 3 'fro.

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: 50 Cent, Soulja Boy, Jay-Z, Eminem, More

• 50 Cent
• Soulja Boy Tell'em
• Eminem

Soulja Boy, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg And More At The 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards

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Lady Gaga, Perez Hilton, Kristin Cavallari Hit Up The 2009 Video Music Awards Afterparties

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Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne At America's Most Wanted Stop In Cincinnati

• Lil Wayne
• Young Jeezy
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America's Most Wanted Tour Stops In L.A.

• Lil Wayne
• Soulja Boy Tell'em
• Pleasure P
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Soulja Boy's Tour Bus From 50 Cent

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• 50 Cent

Lil Wayne, Drake, More Kick Off 'Young Money Presents: America's Most Wanted' Tour

• Drake
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Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Mary J. Blige And More Come Out For Hot 107.9's Birthday Bash 2009

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Kelly Clarkson, Ciara And More Go Wild At Zootopia

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Lady Gaga, Flo Rida, Soulja Boy, More Rock Wango Tango 2009

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The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Miranda Cosgrove, More Arrive At 2009 Kids' Choice Awards

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