Soulja Boy Apologizes for Dissing the Troops

Rapper is the target of a petition to ban his music from military bases after he bashes the Armed Forces in his latest video

By Josh Grossberg Sep 06, 2011 3:45 PMTags
Soulja BoyRick Diamond/Getty Images

Soulja Boy is coming under fire from some real soldiers.

The 21-year-old rap star isn't doing himself any favors with America's Armed Forces after putting out a video in which he appears to slam the troops along with the FBI.

So how bad was it? You be the judge.

"F--k the FBI/And f--k all the Army troops/Bitch, be your own man/I'll be flying through the clouds/With green like I'm Peter Pan," he raps about a minute into the new track titled "Let's Be Real," which subsequently went viral on Labor Day.

Needless to say, that didn't go over well with the military.

Citing the controversial lyrics, various Army personnel and veterans have launched a petition seeking to have Soulja Boy's music and memorabilia banned from Army and Air Force bases across the country.

"The song is offensive to our military," writes one petitioner, Dianne Webb. "He should see the mothers' faces and made to attend a troops funeral and see what loss of a real Hero means to the family and every true American. He should apologize for his actions also if he is a man. My son fought for you Soulja, what did you do for him?"

As the Military Times notes, it's doubtful the Marine Corps Birthday Ball will put "Crank That" on its playlist this year, nor do we imagine he'll be on a USO Tour anytime soon.

Realizing the storm of controversy he's unleashed, Soulja, real name DeAndre Cortez Way, subsequently issued a heartfelt mea culpa this morning via the Global Grind.

"As an artist, I let my words get the best of me. Sometimes there are things that we feel, things that we want to express, and when we put them on paper and speak them out loud, they can come out wrong," he wrote in a statement. "When I expressed my frustration with the US Army, not only did my words come out wrong, I was wrong to even speak them. So, I write this to give my sincerest apology to all members of the United States military services, as well as their families that were offended by my most recent lyrics."

The hip-hopster added that he was speaking out of frustration growing up in the "post-9/11" era where he's seen his country fight two seemingly endless wars while failing to take care of the homefront.

"A lot of people in this country are struggling to make ends meet and I think a lot about what if we had never gone to war. Where would our economy be? Our schools, our after-school and work programs, our streets?" he added.

Soulja Boy concluded by saying he never meant to insult those fighting for his freedoms. (Like his freedom to drop $55 million on his own personal jet?)

"In no way do I want to hurt any of our honorable soldiers who put their lives at risk, regardless of how they feel about the two wars we fight in," he said. "I am just frustrated that we haven't been able to bring you all home quick enough and my frustration got the best of me. I am deeply sorry."

He reiterated his feelings in a series of defensive Twitter posts and pleaded ignorance as well.

"I'm sorry I didn't know my music was listened to by so many ears I didn't mean any disrespect. some people just mess with me. y'all know it," he tweeted.

That'll certainly make his fans in uniform feel better.

Here's a look at the video that started it all. Caution: the clip contains explicit language.