It’s hard not to love an original: the first of many to follow. This notion lends attribution
to the world’s adoration with Wiz Khalifa. Born Cameron Jibril Thomaz, Wiz Khalifa is
more than a mere M.C. He is a movement and maverick. Four years ago, he
simultaneously gave blue collar Americans, as well as his native town of Pittsburgh, a
Hip-Hop champion with his #1 mega-hit “Black & Yellow,” a nod to his city’s colors.
When rap marketing was primarily focused on street and nightclub promotions, an
unsigned yet clairvoyant Wiz decided to share his sinsemilla-scented indie music with an
overlooked demo of suburban and collegiate youth. Rap touring mined newer soil and
conceived was the soundtrack for a new generation of free-spirited young hippies––fans
as well as up-and-coming MCs. “No matter what changes, you’re always gonna want that
original feeling,” says Wiz. “Nothing really comes in the way of that. You can’t really
fight it.”
Over the last five years, many rappers have latched onto the Wiz Khalifa wave,
but while they’ve mostly kept their head above water, Khalifa has soared on both indie
and major plains. Before signing his second deal with Atlantic in 2010, Wiz had already
amassed a respectable following, fortune and awareness. He was selling out his own 20city tours, including the Deal Or No Deal tour and Khalifa was being crowned “Rookie of
the Year” by top media brands, including The Source Magazine, XXL Magazine, BET
and MTV. His mixtapes penetrated the culture not only musically, but also digitally, with
2010’s free download Kush and Orange Juice hashtag becoming #1 on Twitter and was
#1 trend search on Google. In 2010, when the reincarnation of Snoop Dogg declined an
offer to join the tour of a heralded rookie named Drake, the decision made as much sense
as it did dollars. Instead, the PA product took his new Atlantic deal and the triple
platinum Stargate produced “Black & Yellow” smash and commenced his own 50-city
run entitled the Waken Baken Tour.
Wiz’s Rostrum/Atlantic Records debut Rolling Papers and follow-up ONIF both
burned their way into the cultural conscience from atop the Billboard charts, reaching
197,000 and 148,000 in the first weeks, as well as producing street and commercial hits,
including “On My Level” feat. Too Short and “Work Hard, Play Hard.” Each year that
followed his debut release, Khalifa would appear on Forbes lists and in Grammy Award
categories. Solo artist success allowed the lanky MC to spread his label owner wings. In
2011, he tapped Juicy J from the Academy Award winning legendary rap group Three
Six Mafia, to be co-CEO of his Taylor Gang Records. The imprint would introduce
audiences to new acts including Chevy Woods and Ty Dollar $ign. Though King Khalifa
quickly became a pop darling, the music industry wasn’t alone in recognizing his
enterprising mind and market magnetism, which is why the Taylor Gang boss’s recent
collaboration with Converse’s Chuck Taylor line is symbiotic perfection (it’s hard not to
love an original). “When I find that the other ways I express myself are as interesting as
my music it opens up doors and makes things more interesting for me.”
Wiz Khalifa is very much a brand. Within each relevant brand exists a community
(or few), and within each community is a lifestyle. This lifestyle was definitely portrayed
on his fourth studio album Blacc Hollywood. The 28-year-old millionaire has reaped gold
and platinum fruit by being relentless and individualistic. As illustrated on the ONIFC
cover, Wiz is inspired by rock star greatness. Khalifa says that the era that exhaled such
ethos the most was the 1980’s, when leather-tight geniuses like Eddie Murphy and Ozzie
Osbourne reigned supreme. Clarifying the misspelling of “Blacc,” Khalifa says: “It’s not
a color, it’s a mind frame of early 80’s Rock & Roll when nobody gave a fuck and
everybody was a star and everybody had a limo. The music was so good and there were
so many stars born from that attitude that I just wanted to channel that and represent it
with the album.”
Every Wiz album must possess the production of the Taylor general’s go-to
maestros Jim Jonsin and Stargate. While the track “Drop It Down On It” deliciously
invites, premium seduction occurs when Jonsin teams up with decorated scribe Rico
Love (Usher, Nelly, T.I.) and allows Khalifa to release the songbird within. Of course
there’s a ton of exotic smoke in Blacc Hollywood, demonstrated in tracks “So High” and
“KK” featuring Juicy J and Project Pat, and a succession of movies made with white
women and white liquor, displayed in the track “Raw.” There are even epic DJ Mustardproduced after parties co-hosted by Snoop and Ty Dollar $ign, shown in the track “You
And Your Friends”; and Blacc Hollywood’s grandest fiesta is shaping up to be the Dr.
Luke turn-up “Staying Out All Night.” But none of this should be a surprise. The Blacc
Hollywood extravaganza began months ago as its lead single “We Dem Boyz,” produced
by Detail (Lil Wayne, Beyoncé), snatched the summer anthem of 2014 crown before the
season began. Temperatures only got hotter when the remix dropped with the sizzling
East/South/West lineup of Nas, Rick Ross and Schoolboy Q. His current hit, “See You
Again,” off the FAST AND FURIOUS soundtrack, catapulted to the top of the charts
across 95 countries. Holding the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 for a consecutive 12
weeks, “See You Again” continues to break records by being Spotify’s most-streamed
track in a single day in the United States and in a single week in 26 countries. In addition
to winning 3 Teen Choice Awards in 2015, “See You Again” continued its success by
winning a Critics’ Choice Award in the category Best Song, earning three Grammy
Award nominations in the categories Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group
Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media, and a Golden Globe nomination in
the category Best Original Song – Motion Picture.
This is what Wiz Khalifa does: Create moments. He did just that when he coheadlined a national Boys of Zummer Tour with and Fall Out Boy; hitting over 40
amphitheaters across North America before its final show at the famed Hollywood Bowl
on August 10th. This is who Wiz Khalifa is: The rock star with the luxurious life who
works as hard as he plays, doing it all in jumbotron-sized peacock fashion. “I’m a fulltime Dad but I love to have fun. This is pure super stardom. Constant progression. I have
a good time living it but I’m gonna have way more fun rapping about it.”
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