Accessing and listening to music these days is super easy with platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. But before these platforms came about, people used Limewire to download their favorite tracks.

If you grew up in the mid-2000s, you know all about that Limewire grind of getting music onto your MP3 or iPod.

Limewire was an unregulated application that allowed users to download and upload music files for free. However, it was also highly illegal and often led to computers being infected with viruses.

One artist who cleverly exploited Limewire was Soulja Boy. Soulja Boy's rise to stardom came when he burst onto the scene with his hit track "Crank That."

The story of how this song became a sensation is just pure genius. Soulja Boy would upload his song to Limewire but label it with the titles of whatever popular songs were trending at the time on the Top 20 Billboard charts.

People expecting to download tracks like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” or a Fall Out Boy hit would instead find themselves listening to “Crank That.” As soon as they hit play on it, they would be met with the iconic “YOUUUU!”

Despite the initial bait-and-switch, many people enjoyed the track and started searching for more of Soulja Boy's music, ultimately contributing to its success.

Soulja Boy was ahead of his time. In an era when artists were spending millions of dollars to get their music heard, he "growth hacked" his way into listeners' iPods and MP3 players.

His innovative approach didn't stop with Limewire. He was one of the first rappers to leverage the internet for self-promotion, using platforms like SoundClick where he charged $1 per song and saw around 20,000 downloads daily, earning him $10,000 a day at just 16 years old.

By 2006, the traditional methods of getting noticed in the music industry, like passing out CDs and hoping for radio play, were becoming outdated. Soulja Boy focused on building his presence online, using MySpace and YouTube to connect with fans.

"Crank That" went viral on YouTube before going viral was even a term. He quickly amassed a huge following, becoming the #1 independent artist on MySpace with over 700,000 friends.

With a home studio and a $200 microphone, Soulja Boy proved that you didn't need expensive equipment to create a hit.

His innovative marketing tactics, including clickbaiting on Limewire, led his debut album “SouljaBoyTellem” to sell over 117,000 copies in its first week. "Crank That" stayed number one on the Billboard charts, received Grammy nominations, and became the first song to sell 3 million digital copies.

His internet-savvy techniques caught the attention of major industry players, leading to a million-dollar deal with Interscope Records at 17.

He also capitalized on the ringtone boom with hits like "Kiss Me Thru the Phone," selling over 2.6 million ringtones and making $100,000 a month by giving out his phone number in the song for fans to call.

Soulja Boy was a pioneer in many ways: he was the first rapper on MySpace, the first to have an iPhone, stream on Justin.tv, which is now Twitch, have a gaming team, create a video game console, and write and produce a #1 song at 16.

Critics once said he was ruining hip-hop, but in reality, he was revolutionizing it by embracing new technology and marketing strategies.

He brought new life to the genre and set the stage for future artists to follow in his innovative footsteps.

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