Bringing You Up to Speed: Wiz Khalifa
All of Pittsburgh’s hip hop hopes lie on the slender shoulders of 21 year old emcee, Cameron Thomaz aka Wiz Khalifa.
21 may be young, but Wiz has more experience in the music industry than most, having spent the past 2 years signed to Warner Bros. Records. Most of this experience stems from putting in a lot of work, yet never seeing the release of his debut major label album, due to the release date getting pushed back multiple times.
In an effort to gain more control over his career, Wiz recently parted ways with WMG. Luckily, he was able to leave Warner on good terms, and with the help of the independent record label, Rostrum Records, will continue to build his brand.
Wiz Khalifa got an early start in the game, having written his first rap at the age of 9 and producing his first beat at 13. He continued this early grind in high school, where he was selling his mixtapes in between classes, and eventually got his first taste of fame with the hit singles, “Youngin on his grind” and “Say Yeah.”
Part of Wiz Khalifa’s success lies in his extremely loyal fan base that Wiz and his management group at Rostrum Records have built over the past 3 years. This is an important asset because artists without this fan base often suffer low record sales even after gaining fame off a hit single.
For a quick glimpse into Wiz’s personality and rap style, check out his latest record, “Favorite Song.”
The relaxed flow over the laid back, smooth beat is Wiz’s trademark style. A style that often includes smoking, drinking, and having fun with the ladies.
This style is what lead to Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y hooking up to create the critically acclaimed How Fly mixtape, which is a great summertime soundtrack. When your in the mood for music about fly women, kicks, clothes, and substances, How Fly has what you need.
Wiz Khalifa also has an ear for going in over other artist’s beats. This talent was showcased by his Grow Season mixtape, hosted by DJ Green Lantern. A great example of this skill is Wiz going in on the beat for “Knock You Down.”
On that track, Wiz comments on his quick flash of fame surrounding his “Say Yeah” single, as well as his currently budding popularity and success:
“Flirted with fame, but at night I dream of success,
If you sleepin on me then you getting good rest,
Cause when niggas ask who hot,
if it aint drizzy then they talking bout me.”
Also, check out Wiz going in over a beatboxed version of Soulja Boy’s “Turn My Swag on,” at the 3 minute mark of his video for “On A Cloud.”
A lot of people have put their personal spin on Soulja Boy’s club banging swag anthem, but Wiz puts all the other renditions to shame. Other notable tracks include Ink My Whole Body and Boarding Pass.
Wiz Khalifa is one of the most promising young emcees in the game, and at the rate he is releasing quality music, should be a household name in no time.
Artists Tagged
Wiz Khalifa
Cameron Thomaz
Label: Atlantic Records, Rostrum Records
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Despite having a smash single in "Say Yeah," Wiz Khalifa spent 2 years sitting on the shelf at Warner Bros. Records. However, after leaving his major label situation during the summer of 2009, the XXL Freshman’s career really started to take off.
Due to an impressive amount of grass roots marketing, orchestrated by his current management team at Rostrum Records, Wiz's most recent project, Kush and Orange Juice, became a trending topic on Twitter and the talk of major music publications upon its release. Wiz Khalifa's once hard-to-pronounce name is now becoming more common place in hip hop discussions.
On July 30th, Wiz announced that he signed a record deal with Atlantic Records.
