Soulja Boy: “Can I Make My Rent Payment in Diamond Chains?”

Soulja Boy...excuse me....Soulja Boy Tell Em's landlord has served him with an eviction notice claiming that the rapper has $10,000 in unpaid rent. And how did Soulja Boy respond? By releasing a video flaunting his vast collection of diamond jewelry and shoeboxes full of cash. But this story isn't just about Soulja Boy's personal finances, this story is really about young rappers and the often perilous world of hip-hop finance.

First, go ahead and watch the video.



The Refined Take:

1) Is Soulja Boy actually broke? Maybe, maybe not. I have absolutely no knowledge of Soulja Boy's actual finances, but we can still easily use the young man as an example of how complicated hip-hop finance can be, a world where the line between "money" and "real money" can get pretty damn blurry. For example: your a young rapper and your label gives you a million dollar advance on an album. That is an advance, aka money you have to pay back. In other words, you're simultaneously a millionaire and a million dollars in debt. Now you decide to spend all your new found cash on huge chains and the nicest cars, but when the landlord asks for 10 grand for rent, you just don't have it - even though you've got hundreds of thousands in the bank, you owe all that money to your label. Is that what happened here? I have no idea, but I do know that it happens everyday to young men who just don't know how to handle those kinds of high-level finances.
2) MC Hammer, Mike Tyson, Michael Vick, Soulja Boy? At their peaks all three had so much money coming in that it seemed inconceivable they'd every run out, and yet they've all filed for bankruptcy. All jokes aside, I really hope Soulja Boy has someone near him he can trust to handle his finances over the long-term. No one lasts in this rap game forever (except, apparently, Hova).
3) Um, I'm not an accountant, but why doesn't Soulja Boy just hand over some of that cash to his landlord. That would seem to solve the problem pretty quickly. Actually, that raises an interesting question: does Soulja Boy even have a checking account? I would imagine he'd have to, but if the man's keeping that much cash in a shoebox...? Shockingly, his landlord may not accept large cash payments.
4) This video is not only a testament to Soulja Boy's expensive taste in jewelry, it's an open invitation for him to get robbed. Lord knows I'm not speaking from personal experience here, but I'm pretty sure that when you're a highly visible public figure you shouldn't be releasing videos letting the world know that you've got thousands of dollars in jewelry and cash in your apartment. I'm just saying - if the man gets robbed sometime in the next week I won't be remotely surprised.