Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em may have many fans, but the rapper attracted a different crowd for a recent performance at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
The Duluth News Tribune reports the concert, which was held last Friday (April 3) at the school’s Romano Gym, attracted a group of students who staged a protest in response to what they deemed as “degrading lyrics” towards women.
For protest organizer Arielle Schnur, the decision to book Soulja Boy for the show demonstrated a lack of judgement by the UMD student entertainment committee, which selected the rapper for the concert based on budget, the university’s schedule versus an artists’ availability and the popularity of the artist among students.
Committee members capatilized on Soulja Boy’s standing on the Billboard charts as well as his affordable performance fee to secure a guaranteed concert appearnance.
Schnur referenced the Soulja Boy’s song, “Pimp Slap Dat Hoe,” as an example of the type of content she found troubling.
The track contains the lyrics: “Pimp slap dat hoe man, show her what you know man, Give her what she need man right side her face man.”
“This isn’t OK for this to happen,” the UMD student told the Tribune. “To bring in an artist that degrades half the student body as sex objects and the other half as sexual assault perpetrators; that form of degradation is not acceptable.”
“The issue with the Soulja Boy concert is that it’s happening at UMD and UMD is an institution of higher learning,” she added. “His lyrics are not conducive to an atmosphere of enlightenment and education.”
Stationed outside the gym, protestors made their views known as they peacefully gathered without preventing concertgoers from attending the Soulja Boy or disrupting the show.
The group followed the demonstration with its own concert in Kirby Lounge that featured local groups and artists.
The protest came as a surprise to Soulja Boy who weighed in on the opposition before taking the stage in front of a sold out crowd.
“WTF I’m in Minnesota its a group of maf**kaz prtoesting my show this sh*t on all the news!!,” the rapper stated via his Twitter.com page. “Mann these people better get the f**k on! I could have been In New York new jointing ‘Turn My Swag On’!!!! They say I’m breaking a record for the people attending the show tonight, umma act a fool!!!!”
Despite the presence of protestors, Soulja Boy admitted to the show coming off well.
“Just got off stage!!! I shut it downnn!!!!… That was like the best show I ever did umma put A Bonus DVD that show in my reloaded album release,” he Twittered. “I just wanna let every1 who came to my show tonight kno I had a REAL GOOD time here! Thanks for the love, best time I had on tour in a while”
The UMD protest is the latest in a string of criticism leveled at Soulja Boy, who has come under fire for his lyrics since coming on the scene with his hit single “Crank That (Soulja Boy).”
The rapper is currently enjoying in the popularity of his #1 single, “Kiss Me Thru the Phone,” the second single off his latest album, iSouljaBoyTellem.