Many artists have faced allegations of belonging to the Illuminati, including Soulja Boy, whose rise in the industry was the subject of many conspiracy theories.

Yesterday (Aug. 20), the “Kiss Me Thru The Phone” hitmaker shut down fans who accused him of signing his life over. “When I first got in the rap game, a lot of people [were] like, ‘Soulja Boy [is in the] Illuminati. Soulja Boy joined the Illuminati, that’s how he got his money, that’s how he got famous, that’s how he got rich,’” he expressed during an Instagram Live session. “But guess what? All I ever did was pray to God, and stayed in the studio and stayed down until I made it, until I got on. They always gon’ try to discredit you for anything you do.”

The Chicago-born and Atlanta-raised rapper continued, “So first they said I was an Illuminati, then they said a whole bunch of bulls**t. All you gotta do is believe in God and stay down, bruh. Nothing can f**k with you. No weapon formed against me shall prosper, n**ga. But, when you really believe in God, you gon’ go through s**t. You gon’ see the media lying on you, you gon’ see n**gas you don’t know beefing with you out of nowhere, hating on you. You go through more s**t when you f**kin’ with God.”

“If I was like a devil a** artist that worship the devil and s**t, I’d be straight,” the 33-year-old added. “It wouldn’t be no blogs lying on my name, it wouldn’t be no rappers beefing with me, you know what I’m saying? But since I f**k with God, I’ma go through more s**t than the average person. You gon’ see the media lying on my name. That’s the evil side right there, attacking me ’cause they know I’m independent.”