Teen cranks the YouTube dance machine

The latest silly dance craze is as literal as it is abstract.

"Crank That" involves minimalist lyrics — sometimes mumbled, sometimes yelled — and an intricate yet doable set of accompanying movements. Bored teenagers have embraced the fad, dancing along to boomboxes on the international stage of YouTube and generating millions of page views as they watch others do the same. Beyoncé can be spotted on her concert tour performing the moves in between her own hits.

The latest entry into the silly dance tradition is unlikely to have the staying power of memorable numbers like the Chicken Dance, the Macarena or the Electric Slide. But it may yet become bigger than comparable recent hip-hop crazes like Chicken Noodle Soup or Walk It Out.

DeAndre Way, known as Soulja Boy, came up with the song and dance moves over the course of a week collaborating with musical partner Arab.

"I was coming up with the dance at the same time as the song — back and forth with it," he said. The lyrics are essentially meaningless without the dance.

"The beginning was just like a routine. You take what I'm saying in the song: 'Soulja Boy I'm in this' ... you step in. 'Watch me crank it,' and I crank it. And 'watch me roll,' and I roll. And 'I Superman.' And then you Superman. Then 'watch me yooouuu.' Then we yooouuu. It's doing what the song says. What I'm saying in the song goes along with the dance."

The ability to do the Soulja Boy to "Crank That" doesn't come instantly, and that's key to its success.

"It's something for the young people who are around my age, the young teenagers. It's something for them to do. I don't say older people can do it, because it's complicated," he said. "It's something you have to study for, and then you can do it.

"The Soulja Boy is all them dances into one: The two-step, lean wit it, it's all different things mixed into one. There's a lot of dance steps into one dance."

And whither the Achy Breaky? Way says he isn't sure where his dance fits in the more extended silly dance tradition, because he hasn't done the Electric Slide and such.

"I'd heard the Macarena at skating rinks or something, but I wouldn't say that's something I'd do in the club or at a party," he said. "I didn't really know how to do those dances."

Way, 17, lives in Batesville, Miss., with his father. But after an insta-deal with Interscope Records, he's currently on the road promoting his music and explaining his dance on BET and at radio stations. Ying Yang Twins producer Mr. Collipark discovered Way online, and Interscope is set to release the first Soulja Boy album Oct. 2.

At the very least, Way is comfortable with his place in the music industry. His next single is "Yah" — a rude and utterly juvenile tune in which the chorus goes farther than Don Imus would ever dare trod, even in the privacy of his own home.

He describes the song thusly: "I produced that record. It's a real crunk record. It's a comical record, it's very funny. It's based towards the same age group. It should spread just like 'Crank That' did."