Soulja Boy arrested on suspicion of weapons charge during a traffic stop

Soulja Boy arrives at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 25, 2023, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

LOS ANGELES — Soulja Boy was arrested early Sunday following a traffic stop on suspicion of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Soulja Boy, 35, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, was a passenger during a traffic stop at 2:35 a.m., police said, and was arrested. Way was booked into jail in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division a little after 6 a.m., according to the sheriff department’s inmate database.

Additional information on what prompted the stop and who else was in the vehicle was not immediately available, police said.

A representative for Way did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment.

The Chicago hip-hop artist is best known for his 2007 single “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and brought him a Grammy nomination for best rap song.

The rapper was recently ordered to pay more $4 million in damages in April after being found liable for sexually assaulting and physically and emotionally abusing a former assistant.

Itzel Luna, The Associated Press