Soulja Boy – Turn My Swag On Video

Soulja Boy recently dropped the video for the single Turn My Swag On which apparently came out a couple of months back.

I haven’t been checking for every Soulja Boy single but I have noticed that most of them lack the anthemic quality that characterized both Crank Dat and, from a different angle, Turn My Swag On.

As I’ve mentioned before, watching Soulja Boy drop singles on YouTube gives one the impression of a "hit singles fishing expedition".

Soulja Boy confirmed that notion and expanded on his hit singles [and dance] research methodology for Shaheem Reid:

"We’ll be at the studio…I’ll make a beat. I got my own club in Atlanta called the Excalibur. We go to the club and play new Soulja Boy music. We watch what they do. We take little bits and pieces back to the crib and YouTube it. That’s it. Take your own songs to the club. That’s how you know it’s hot."

"All you artists out there, shipping your songs to the radio and you ain’t getting the response you want and your album only does 10 or 20 thousand the first week, go out there yourself. Play it, and watch the reaction. You ain’t gonna find no hit through the label."

That’s as straightforward and simple as research needs to be and you don’t need to own your own club to make it happen though that would certainly facilitate things!

On a related marketing note, the appearance of both pre- and post-roll ads for 50 Cent’s flick Before I Self Destruct on the official Turn My Swag On video caught me by surprise.

I’ve been out of the video loop for a week or two now.  Is 50 Cent dropping such ads on a lot of videos or is he targetting Soulja Boy’s audience more specifically?

Related ProHipHop Coverage on Strip Club Research & Marketing:
Jermaine Dupri’s Strip Club Research
Hip Hop Research & Marketing in Atlanta Strip Clubs
Hip Hop Research & Marketing in Strip Clubs, Pt. 3