Stop Cranking That Soulja Boy

About

Stop Cranking That Soulja Boy refers to a series of memes in which one person is asking another to "stop cranking that Soulja Boy," with the other person refusing to comply. The ironic meme references Soulja Boy's 2007 hit song Crank That (Soulja Boy) which spawned a dancing trend.

Origin

On November 7th, 2019, Instagram^[6] user therhetoricaltriangle posted a meme in which Phineas and Ferb character Baljeet pleads with his frenemy Buford to "stop doing the stanky leg." The post received over 8,400 likes in nine months (shown below).

Spread

The format did not see further spread until on May 18th, 2020, Instagram^[1] user boomer.jim posted a similar two-panel meme in which SpongeBob SquarePants character Sandy Cheeks asks SpongeBob to stop doing the stanky leg, with SpongeBob responding "NAH." The post received over 80,500 likes in two months (shown below, left). On the same day, boomer.jim^[2] posted a similar meme in which The Simpsons character Marge Simpson asked her husband Homer Simpson to "stop cranking that Soulja Boy" (doing Soulja Boy's signature dance move) with Homer responding "NAH." The post (shown below, left) accumulated nearly 110,000 likes in two months.

On May 19th, Twitter^[3] user @br0kenchords reposted The Simpsons version of the meme, with the tweet gaining over 26,700 retweets and comments and 150,200 likes in two months.

On May 20th, 2020, YouTuber Apandah tweeted^[4] a dubbed version of the meme (shown below) that received over 3,300 retweets and comments, 15,200 likes and 96,700 views on Twitter in two months. A July 6th, 2020, YouTube^[5] reupload of the video received over 124,200 views in one week.

finally my marge voice has a purpose pic.twitter.com/yGTpLbw49Q

— the boss (@apandahvevo) May 20, 2020

Starting on May 19th, the format received moderate spread on Instagram and Reddit alongside other ironic memes stemming from Soulja Boy's song "Crank That (Soulja Boy)." For example, on June 1st, 2020, Redditor TikTokGJ and Twitter user @bonniemvo posted a Five Nights at Freddy's version of the meme that received over 4,300 upvotes in /r/fivenightsatfreddy's and 220 retweets and comments on Twitter.

freddy's voice provided by my guy Flynnigan Macabre pic.twitter.com/UqPn79F4Pe

— Bonnie M (@bonniemvo) June 1, 2020

The format maintained a moderate presence on Twitter, Instagram and Reddit in the following month. In addition to "Crank That (Soulja Boy)," other popular dance moves had also been referenced.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References