is a Japanese hip-hop musician and songwriter best known for his collaborations with singer

Thelma Aoyama is a Japanese pop and R&B singer. She is part Afro-Trinidadian and Japanese. She is known for her collaboration song with SoulJa, "Koko ni Iru yo" and her answer song "Soba ni Iru ne". In September 2008, the Guinness World Records certified th ...

, "Koko ni Iru yo" and "

Soba ni Iru ne is Thelma Aoyama's second official single, released on January 23, 2008, featuring SoulJa. It is an answer song to her previous collaboration with SoulJa, " Koko ni Iru yo." B-side "My dear friend" was used as the ending theme to anime Shion no ...

" – the latter of which was the former

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

holder for the best selling digital single of all-time in Japan (until it was superseded by

Greeeen Greeeen (stylized as GReeeeN) is a Japanese vocal group from Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, comprising the all-male four members: HIDE, navi, 92 (read as "kuni"), and SOH. They made their debut with Universal Music in 2007. Their logo image i ...

's " Kiseki"). He has worked with various Japanese singers, including Thelma Aoyama, Issa, Rola, and Misslim.

Biography

SoulJa's mother is

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

and his father is Japanese. He studied music, learning how to play the violin, cello and piano from a young age, due to the influence of his mother. During his childhood, he spent time in Belgium, Japan and the United States. At 15, he grew to love hip-hop music. In 2003, he returned to Japan, and began creating music. He got his first big break when a song of his, "First Contact," was featured in a commercial for Men's Beauteen (featuring actor

Joe Odagiri , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor and musician. Personal life Joe Odagiri was born in Tsuyama, Okayama prefecture. Though he was accepted by Kochi University, he turned it down for an opportunity to study in the United States ...

) in 2005. This led to several more offers to write commercial music for companies such as magazine Oggi, along with SoulJa's independent label debut. In late 2005, he released the EP ''

First Contact First contact may refer to: *First contact (astronomy), the moment in astronomical transit when the apparent positions of the two bodies first touch *First contact (anthropology), the first meeting of two cultures previously unaware of one another ...

'' under Rock & Hill Records. In 2007, SoulJa debuted as a major label artist with

Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in the country regarding music distribution. The company is resp ...

. His third single, " Koko ni Iru yo" featuring R&B singer

, became a long selling hit, staying in

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

's top 10 singles for five weeks. Eventually, by March 2008, the song had been certified by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

for selling over 1,000,000+ ringtones, 1,000,000+ cellphone full-length downloads and 100,000 PC downloads. SoulJa's debut album, ''

Spirits Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

'', released two and a half months later, was a modest success, breaking the top 10 on Oricon and selling over 66,000 copies. In January 2008, Thelma Aoyama released her own answer version to the song, "

." This version outstripped the popularity of the original, topping the RIAJ's monthly ringtone chart for three months, peaking at No. 1 on Oricon's single sales charts and eventually being certified by Guinness World Records as the best digital single in Japan of all-time (an award it held for a year). After the extreme popularity of this version, SoulJa re-released ''Spirits'', featuring a self-cover of this version (featuring vocalist Yukie). SoulJa's second album, '' Colorz'', was preceded by two singles: feat. Misslim (a pseudonym for

Yumi Matsutoya , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. Generally the writer of both the lyrics and the music in her songs, she is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice and live performances, and is one of the most prominent figures ...

) and "One Time" feat.

Issei is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...

Jin Oki Jin is a Chinese tones, toneless pinyin romanization of Chinese, romanization of various Chinese names and words. These have also been romanized as Kin and Chin (Wade–Giles). "Jin" also occurs in Japanese and Korean. It may refer to: States J ...

. The album did not do as well as his previous, only reaching No. 106 on Oricon's album charts. "Kinenbi" was a minor hit, charting in the top 20 on RIAJ's Chaku-uta chart for two months. In January 2010, SoulJa released his 6th single, "

Way to Love (Saigo no Koi) Way may refer to: Paths * a road, route, path or pathway, including long-distance paths. * a straight rail or track on a machine tool, (such as that on the bed of a lathe) on which part of the machine slides * Ways, large slipway in shipbuildin ...

" feat.

Miho Karasawa is a Japanese singer and lyricist from Tokyo who was previously signed to Horipro and is currently signed to Lantis. Since 2014, she has performed under the stage name True (stylized as TRUE). She has performed theme songs for '' Violet Evergar ...

. It was a digital hit, being certified by the RIAJ for selling 100,000 copies after charting for two months. This will be followed by his third album, ''

Letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

'', along with the leading single "Hanasanaide yo" featuring Thelma Aoyama. SoulJa also worked together with Aoyama on her single "

Kaeru Basho is Thelma Aoyama's ninth single. It was released on March 3, 2010 by Universal J. "Kaeru Basho" was written by SoulJa who collaborated with her on their number-one song "Soba ni Iru ne is Thelma Aoyama's second official single, released on Ja ...

," writing the song.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

As lead artist

* charted on monthly Chaku-uta Reco-kyō Chart.
†Japan Hot 100 established February 2008, RIAJ Digital Track Chart established April 2009.

As a featured artist

Other appearances

He also graduated Christian Academy in Japan.

References

External links

Official Site

Universal Label Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:SoulJa Living people Japanese male pop singers Japanese male singer-songwriters Japanese singer-songwriters Japanese-language singers 1983 births Universal Music Japan artists Japanese hip hop musicians People from Western Tokyo Japanese people of Belgian descent People from Higashikurume, Tokyo 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese male singers