And the winner is…not Element 9 Recordings.

Nope. It was Kanye’s night and it was well deserved. His single, “The Good Life” featuring T-Pain took the award for Best Rap Song last night at the 50th annual Grammy Awards.

I knew this was going to be a tough contest and knew we’d be the underdog, so it wasn’t a shock when it was learned that ‘Ye would be taking home the trophy. We’ve still got plenty of people to thank and will be sure to do so in a more formal fashion once things settle down, but right now I’d just like to thank everyone who has sent me messages and reached out to support us during this ride.

This has been a surreal experience and now that we’ve come so close to getting a Grammy statue, the pressure is on more than ever to make sure we close the deal next time around.

Kanye made a great record, so we’ve got to make a better record. I’m up for the challenge!

Is he really writing another story about Soulja Boy? I already hear you and yes, I sure am. But Soulja Boy isn’t entirely the topic of concern here. I actually want to examine why the media, especially the tabloids, love to do everything in their power to assassinate the character of young stars in the entertainment industry.

This week Soulja Boy, at the age of 17, was crowned as the all-time sales leader for digital downloads. This isn’t all that surprising, considering that over the past year this kid has shown the music industry what is truly achievable in this digital world we’re now living in.

You would probably expect that breaking this record would be cause for celebration. He’s sold 3 million downloads, about 50 billion ringtones and is in contention for a Grammy.

Soulja Boy wasn’t celebrating this week. Instead, he was too busy trying to put out fires that tabloid sites had started claiming he was expecting a baby (a very bad look for an artist whose fan base is primarily teen based).

Here is an unedited excerpt from a MySpace bulletin that was posted from Soulja Boy addressing the rumors:

“Wuz hannan dis ya folk Soulja Boy I just wanna let all my fans know that rumor about me having a baby on the way is not true.. So FUCK that site Mediatakeout And FUCK Bet Black carpet for lying on me! Every week is something different.. They Said my Mom was dead. They said I got a girl pregnant. They said i got shot.. Wowww it will never end.. You can’t believe shit about me coming from Mediatakeout so if u see it you automatically know dat shit false..”

The resonating question I continue to ask is, why? Why do these gossip sites feel the need to take every opportunity that comes their way to create and circulate news that is known to be false?

They don’t get all the blame here either. If the public weren’t buying, these sites wouldn’t be in business. The public has made Perez Hilton a rich man because apparently he’s better at selling fake news than most of the others in the game. Now we’ve got a million clones out there with sites just like Xplosive World that believe if they can bamboozle the public like Perez, they’re going to see some of that Perez Hilton money.

So it appears Soulja Boy has become the “it” kid for the moment that these sites want to tear apart (where did Brittany Spear’s sister go?). The manner in which they are drawing these stories on him is just plain reckless. It seems like when these sites lock in on a target, they won’t stop until they’ve accomplished their goal: to destroy the reputation of celebrities to the point that it has caused unrepairable damage to their image. Why?

I don’t understand the benefits that come from this kind of journalism. If they accomplish their goal and sway public opinion against their targets; doesn’t that leave them with less of a pool of celebrities to attack? I suppose that’s why these same people have to create celebrities to talk about (see:RE: MTV’s Tila Tequila and Bobby Banhart call it quits).

The best strategy for Soulja Boy right now is to just keep it moving. Enjoy the success and don’t throw fuel to any fire these sites have started.

They love the fact that they were able to strike a nerve with him and are now aware that he’s vulnerable to their attacks. Next time it’s a slow day on the fake news wire, I’m sure there will be plenty of brainstorming as to what they can sell to the public that might just be believable enough to start some controversy.

What the tabloid sites don’t realize is they’re playing with fire. They’re not going to generate the same sort of response that is typical every time they uncover the shocking development that another socialite has entered rehab or an actor was actually seen and photographed buying a cup of coffee.

The whole existence of these sites is based on a cult following of readers across the internet. Well, guess who else has a cult following across the internet? Soulja Boy’s fans are a very loyal bunch and I’m not talking about the one’s that jumped on the bandwagon when “Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)” started playing on BET. I’m talking about the hundreds of thousands of teens that have been on board before the rest of America was trying to Superman Dat H**. These kids are smart, know how to organize for a cause and will be happy to crash servers and flood message boards to defend the artist THEY created. They won’t be playing into the hands of these sites either by boosting their traffic and making it easier to sell ad space. They’ll swoop in one day, leave their mark, then move on to the next site. No drawn out debates from these fans, they’ve got too much real estate to cover thanks to the ever-growing number of tabloid sites regurgitating the same fake news.

At the end of the day, all you’re left with is a very uncool site that most teens wouldn’t touch if you paid them and a stigma attached to your name/site that won’t be quickly forgotten.

So congratulations to Soulja Boy on reaching another milestone in his career. For a kid everyone was quick to write-off as a one hit wonder, he sure seems to be sticking around a lot longer than expected and now he’s officially important enough to cause the gossip mongers to run wild with rumors that are so old that Soulja Boy should be a grandfather at this point.

Love him or hate him, I don’t think you’re going to stop him with bad press.