Soul Punk is the debut solo studio album by American musician Patrick Stump, the lead vocalist, guitarist and composer of Fall Out Boy. It was released in the United States on October 18, 2011 through Island Records. Stump's solo project was officially announced in January 2010 and he later revealed his first album's title to be Soul Punk, his first major musical project since Fall Out Boy's hiatus in late 2009. He characterized the lyrics as being "90% metaphors", with lyrical themes dealing with self-belief, corporate greed, innocence and death.

Rolling Stone included Soul Punk in their "Fall Music Preview: The Season's Hottest Albums" and Spin listed it in their "30 Must-Hear Albums of 2011." Soul Punk has had tentative release dates delayed and unconfirmed dates on the internet. Stump originally completed the album in 2010 and had a tentative February 2011 release date but re-did the finished album after coming up with "This City". For the album's delay, in place of it is a digital EP, Truant Wave, containing six songs, three of which he collaborated with other artists, released on February 22, 2011, on iTunes.

A remix of "This City", featuring Lupe Fiasco, was uploaded to YouTube before being released to iTunes and other online outlets on July 26 as the album's first single. Its music video was premiered on Vevo on September 20. Stump revealed the album cover art on September 7, again done by Aakash Nihalani, whom previously did the art for Truant Wave. Soul Punk was also made available as a deluxe edition with additional tracks. The remix of "This City" is included as a bonus track on both album versions. iTunes' album preorders started on September 27 as well as physical CD preorders from Stump's webstore. With preorders from Stump's online store, a package with a lithograph by Roland Tamayo was available.

Soul Punk was released to generally positive reviews by most music critics, with many critics praising Stump's musical direction and songwriting skill, while negative reviews felt the album was too self-indulgent. His sound was compared to Michael Jackson, whom he has cited as a major influence. The album debuted at No. 47 on the Billboard 200 with 9,000 first week sales but fell off the week after, despite its critical reception and promotion.

After Stump's band Fall Out Boy went on an indefinite hiatus in November 2009, he announced a new project in January 2010 through a message on his YouTube video. Again working with Island Records, he produced Soul Punk. Originally having a tentative release date of February 2011, it was delayed to October that year. In its place, Stump released Truant Wave as his first extended play (EP) through his own record label Nervous Breakdance Media digitally on February 22, 2011. Stump originally completed his album in 2010 but started again from scratch to re-build the album around a song called "This City" that he wrote at the eleventh hour because he wanted to include it but felt it didn't fit on the record. His bandmates Trohman and Hurley formed the heavy metal supergroup The Damned Things with members from Anthrax and Every Time I Die, releasing Ironiclast as their debut album in 2010. Wentz formed an electropop/experimental band Black Cards with lead singer Bebe Rexha. Commenting on these musical endeavours, Stump said "when I look at Damned Things, when I look at Black Cards, I feel like those are totally viable, legitimate bands. It’s not some side project full of songs your main band didn’t want, it is its own thing. I think that means it needed to happen."

Soul Punk features no guest artists or other producers, with Stump playing all the instruments himself.

"When it comes to pop music, there's this perception that all you have to do is press a button on your iPad [to get the sounds] but I wanted to make it with love and put a lot into it. A lot of people asked, 'Where did you get the drum sounds?' I played them. 'What synth plug-in was that?' I played all the synths. 'How'd you get that bass tone?' It's a bass. I really wanted to put in the effort, even if people might not notice."

Several track names were released early such as "This City", "Greed" and "Allie". "Neither I nor my music seem[s] comfortably defined by the DIY punk or R&B/hip-hop scenes," Stump said in a press release. Previously announced songs "Love, Selfish Love" and "As Long As I Know I'm Getting Paid" were released on his debut EP, Truant Wave, instead. A remix of "This City" was later released for streaming on the internet and sent to iTunes and radio in the lead up to the album's release.