Soulja Boy breaks download record

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. rapper Soulja Boy became the first artist to rack up 3 million downloads of a digital track/song, Interscope Records announced Thursday.

The 17-year-old recording artist broke the record this week with his song "Crank That (Soulja Boy,)" which is nominated for a Best Rap Song Grammy and spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2007.

"Soulja Boy has set the bar for what's possible in terms of breaking an artist online," Steve Berman, president of sales and marketing for Interscope Geffen A&M Records, said in a statement. "He's been doing it since day one, before he was signed here, so I'm not surprised he's setting a record today. Soulja Boy is out there on the frontier, showing everyone else what's possible."

"I can't thank my fans enough, without them all of this wouldn't have been possible. The support they give me is beyond incredible. I have so many Soulja Boy Tell'em projects ready and I will continue to give them what they need in 2008," Soulja Boy said.