Seventeen-year-old Soulja Boy has topped Forbes Magazine’s 2008 list of Hottest New Music Stars. The “Crank That” star landed a recording contract after placing the charttopping single on his Myspace and YouTube pages.

“Could there be any doubt that this kid would top our list? Crank That was a multi-platform phenomenon,” says Forbes’ Louis Hau. “Heavy radio play propelled the single to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The YouTube video generated millions of clicks and spawned a dance craze. And the single’s success helped Soulja Boy sell more than 3.4 million downloads and more than 2.6 million ringtones (in the US).”

Forbes Magazine Hottest New Music Stars 2008:

1. Soulja Boy

2. Sean Kingston
3. Colbie Caillat
4. J. Holiday
5. Flo Rida
6. Piles

7. Jordin Sparks
9. Huey
10. Hurricane Chris

11. OneRepublic