Soulja Boy was initially loud and wrong about J. Cole. Don’t be Soulja Boy.

OPINION: Soulja Boy, one of hip-hop’s most entertaining figures, responded to what he thought J. Cole said about him when all he had to do was press play.

Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

Nothing makes me shake my head harder than folks who are loud and wrong. You can be loud. You can be wrong, but being loud and wrong, well that’s been frowned upon in the Black community for eons. When I’m loud and wrong — I’m human — I shake my head at myself. And then I shake it off, because the players gon’ play and the haters gon’ hate. 

Yes, that was a Taylor Swift reference. It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me. SMH. 

Speaking of haters hating, let’s discuss the recent shenanigans of one DeAndre Way, better known to the world as Soulja Boy. I’m lowkey a fan of Soulja Boy and probably always have been. I was never one of those people who thought he was ruining hip-hop with his particular brand of made-for-ringtones-rap. He was a kid when he exploded onto the scene and made himself rich through music and youthful antics, and I’m rooting for most people who are Black. Over time, he’s done some awesomely WTF things, but he’s also provided us legenedary interviews like his meme-heavy turn on “The Breakfast Club.” I even enjoyed him on “Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood” and was amused at him being pissed that Kanye took his trash verse off of “Remote Control.” The world did not miss out on anything. 

Well, because Soulja Boy likes to provide the world with entertainment (as any responsible entertainer would), he recently caught wind of some comments J. Cole made about him on Lil Yachty’s “A Safe Space” podcast. 

J. Cole is a good interview but the part that caused the ruckus happens around the 10:36 mark. J. Cole discusses a realization he had about how was interacting with hip-hop earlier in his career. He considered himself too good for artists like Soulja Boy because of how he viewed “real hip-hop.” Over time though, he understood that he was being a hater and that he really was a fan of Soulja Boy (and other similar artists) and needed to learn from those artists to help him become a better artist. Cole was giving Soulja Boy his props for having his own lane and creating art that resonated with people. 

Well, Soulja Boy caught wind of these comments. Actually, he caught wind of like one sentence. I’m assuming he saw a tweet posted that summarized his comments and decided not to read them all OR watch the video clip that accompanied the tweet and fired off a few tweets of his own AND even hopped on IG Live, calling J. Cole all kinds of names and telling Cole to put some respek on his name. 

While doing his IG Lives, Nicki Minaj had to jump in there and explain to Soulja that not only was he wrong, he was being loud and that sometimes, just sometimes, we can be wrong when we jump out there and run with assumptions because we don’t listen to or read all of the information. Nicki, who clearly DID watch the entire video clip, explained to Soulja just why he was wrong and how Cole was giving him his props for doing something that resonated with the people. Soulja apologized via Twitter/X, and I suppose now all is right with the world. 

But there’s a lesson here and it’s a lesson folks have to learn over and over: Please read the whole story before reacting to things. This ENTIRE debacle could have been thwarted if Soulja spent even 30 seconds reading or watching the video. J. Cole was very clear about his appreciation for Soulja’s music and how he acknowledged his own wayward mindstate about it. And yet here comes Soulja Boy using all of his time and energy to try to talk trash J. Cole’s accomplishments and positioning in hip-hop. ONLY to find out that he’s entirely wrong. 

Listen, Soulja Boy isn’t the first nor will he be the last person to jump out the window (you remember that phrase) over a perceived slight; it’s a human tendency. But right now, he is the latest reminder about what it looks like when you choose not to read and then make a fool of yourself because of it. For a moment, Soulja Boy turned his swag off. 

Don’t be Soulja Boy.

Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest), but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said: “Unknown” (Blackest).

Make sure you check out the Dear Culture podcast every Thursday on theGrio’s Black Podcast Network, where I’ll be hosting some of the Blackest conversations known to humankind. You might not leave the convo with an afro, but you’ll definitely be looking for your Afro Sheen! Listen to Dear Culture on TheGrio’s app; download it here.

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