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Comment by fb03 | Hacker News Reader

I would sincerely love to know how he got this idea. I mean, he is a renowned musician. Why would he out of nowhere sell something that reeks of piracy and can get him into problems? I fail to understand.

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He's broke and a glorified scam artist at this point. Has been selling all sorts of garbage Chinese products marked up under his own "brand", as well as the scams where he offers to buy everyone products for "free" and you just pay the shipping.

https://twitter.com/souljaboy/status/814639677550362624?lang...

https://news.avclub.com/we-can-all-learn-something-from-the-...

http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2017/02/soulja-boy-sean-kingston-...

My guess is he's not broke broke -- he probably has millions in debt for assets like homes and cars and whatever else, and he's doing this to pay those off. I don't think someone who is getting paid $200 just to record themselves namedropping people is broke in the same way that someone who actually has no way to earn income is.

The fact that he couldn't come up with $675 for a car rental, and has had some other similar issues including being unable to pay his rent, leads me to beleive he's broke broke. His mother has come out claiming he is as well. He may earn $200 just to record himself, but then he goes and spends $1000 on designer clothes and poorly made jewelry. This is all hearsay of course

That second link (avclub) is a story about someone taking over an expired domain and redirecting it; Soulja Boy wasn't selling anything except his album.

He has been broke for a long time. He spent all his money really fast and never really recovered. He has been caught numerous times flaunting "Motion Picture" money as if it's real.

Rap music has a strong history of building your brand then licensing products with your name/brand on them or even to the extent of Kanye where he actually designs his own fashion line/shoes.

> even to the extent of Kanye where he actually designs his own fashion line/shoes.

There is no way he does that himself, just like all the other wannabe fashion/perfume/merchandising brands. They just use their fame to tack on another revenue stream.

Actually Kanye is quite into fashion and apparel, instead of just making assumptions about someone's capabilities because they're famous, use that energy to learn about them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanye_West#Fashion

Just because someone is famous, doesn't mean they are especially good at a job. Michael Jordan is a much better basketball player then a baseball player.

Ok but he actually has a company with products he cares about and is involved with, so whether or not the product is "good" by your judgement, it still shows that he's earnest and not trying to make a quick cash-in with minimal effort.

Kanye interned at Fendi about 12 years ago - he's definitely pretty involved in fashion beyond just lending his name

> Kanye interned at Fendi about 12 years ago

I guess that makes him an expert.

He's in politics too. Amazing man of many talents.

> I guess that makes him an expert.

No it made him a student he's passionate about fashion and wanted to learn how the industry worked from the inside, but I'd argue designing one of the most iconic men's shoes of the decade that made him an expert.

You can hate on his confidence and attitude all you like but I think it's silly to pretend he isn't responsible for his own achievements just because you don't like the guy.

The product page website was originally a vehicle for a knock-off smartwatch. Clearly he's just shamelessly pitching a drop-shippable console with some branding on it. I doubt he had any influence on its creation, and will probably just plead ignorance if the lawyers come out.

I'm shocked by how few people realize the scheme he's running. Then again, it only involved a tiny bit less effort than 99% of other celebrity-endorsed products.

> Clearly he's just shamelessly pitching a drop-shippable console with some branding on it.

Actually there's no branding on it either - it's straight drop-shipping from AliExpress.

https://www.polygon.com/2018/12/5/18127315/soulja-boy-handhe...

He got the same idea from the people who convinced various "celebrities" to rep ICO's. By which I mean someone flashed a bunch of money in their direction to be a spokesperson for some drop-shipped, cheap, buggy emulator.

Guessing someone offered to do all the work if he lent his name. Probably his previous money has run out...

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