Johannes Maria Leenders Zwaan, better known as Soulja (ソルジャ, Soruja, stylized as SoulJa), is a Japanese hip-hop musician and songwriter best known for his collaborations with singer Thelma Aoyama, "Koko ni Iru yo" and "Soba ni Iru ne" – the latter of which was the former Guinness World Records holder for the best selling digital single of all-time in Japan (until it was superseded by Greeeen's "Kiseki").
[2][3] He has worked with various Japanese singers, including Thelma Aoyama, Issa, Rola, and Misslim.
[1] He studied music, learning how to play the violin, cello and piano from a young age, due to the influence of his mother.
This led to several more offers to write commercial music for companies such as magazine Oggi, along with SoulJa's independent label debut.
[6] SoulJa's debut album, Spirits, released two and a half months later, was a modest success, breaking the top 10 on Oricon and selling over 66,000 copies.
[4] In January 2008, Thelma Aoyama released her own answer version to the song, "Soba ni Iru ne."