Also, similar to the last time we interviewed Wiz, there was both Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania attire sprinkled throughout the crowd.  People were excited to see the home town hero!

Witnessing Wiz perform hits from his seemingly endless mixtape catalog, to a crowd that knew every word, was an experience!

Wiz Khalifa took a break from the CMJ festivities to discuss his new projects with HipHopAtLunch.com, as well as share some advice on getting tattoos!

That’s crazy to hear “The Thrill” was inspired by a conversation Wiz had with college kids in Kansas.  Burn After Rollin is gonna drop any day now, and after hearing that “Empire Of The Sun” remix, I can’t wait to get into the mixtape.  Wiz has definitly turned his hustle on in 2009, and if you’re a fan hit his Twitter:@RealWizKhalifa.  He uses social media well, capitalizing on the opportunity to communicate with fans!

The 22 year old emcee has stage presence beyond his years, yet allows his young age to come through in his goofy personality.  Check out Wiz Khalifa as he starts off the show with “Air Born,” his remake of Camp Lo’s Luchini (This Is It).

That is one sick remix to a classic record, and as Wiz says on the track, he’s definitely been on the road “choppin and killin them interviews!”

The major surprise guest of the night was Curren$y, who came out to perform “Car Service” off of the duo’s How Fly mixtape.

That performance was crazy, and as you can tell from his facial expressions, Curren$y has a similar personality to Wiz.  Anyone who follows Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y on Twitter, knows that these guys have a lot of similar interests and probably enjoyed that dual performance more than we did!

Before we left the interview, he explained the origin of his stage name.  Check out why they call the dude Wiz Khalifa.

It’s true that Wiz Khalifa may not be the easiest name to learn on the first try, but like Wiz said, once you say it, chances are you wont forget!

A great example of Wiz Khalifa’s hilarious on stage personality and energy filled performance is “Boarding Pass.”

Like Wiz said in the interview, he’s going to be goofy on stage and make funny faces while dancing around. If you don’t like it, leave the show!  That being said, I think his funny faces and dance moves are the crowd’s favorite part.

Check out the crowd going nuts, especially the female crowd, for fan favorite, “Ink My Whole Body.”

As Wiz said in the interview, he has been getting tattoos done since the age of 16 and is well on his way to “inkin’ his whole body!”

I recommend going to a Wiz Khalifa concert if he is ever in your general area, as it’s an experience rarely found in live shows.  Wiz puts everything into his performances for a crowd that can’t get enough.

Big shout out to Jasmine Solano, Stalley, Vinyl Richie, Artie, DJ Jayceeoh, Saint, Mickie Factz, Crosby, Circa95, HipTicsCom, and everyone who came through to show, love!

Deal or No Deal drops on November 24th, but in the meantime check out the snippets of each track on Amazon.com.  For more information on Wiz Khalifa, check out our feature article!

HipHopAtLunch.com will be covering shows and interviewing all the talented artists whose path we cross.

Last night’s bill consisted of Termanology, Skyzoo, Statik Selektah Bekay, Emilio Rojas, Jon Hope, Shawn Chrystopher, Donny Goines, and JtheS, but we soon found out that anything can happen at CMJ.

Termanology and Shawn Chrystopher didn’t make it to Santos, however special guests Joe Scudda, Sha Stimuli, and Cormega put on a good show in their absence.

John Hope really got the crowd involved with his energetic stage presence.  He also came through with his Essence Music Group family to represent Providence for the night.

Check out Jon Hope performing “The Most Important Song Of My Life.”

That song is wonderfully produced and carries a great message of respect and love within the hip hop community.

After his set, Jon Hope took a minute to touch base with HipHopAtLunch.com, explaining his previous comments about Pill’s “Trap Going Ham” video, and talking about why he follows porn stars on Twitter!

Jon meant no disrespect when he recorded “Smartest,” inspired by Pill’s “Trap Goin Ham.”  Instead he decided to portray the change he would like to see in hip hop.  Jon took this interview as an opportunity to clear that up.  Also, if you’re a pornstar hit Jon up on Twitter:@JonHope and let him know what you thought of the interview!

Jon Hope’s upcoming project, A Work In Progress, should be interesting, as he stated that it will differ greatly from Some Kind of Wonderful.  If we can’t have Some Kind of Wonderful Part 2, I hope we see more tracks like Breathin’ which saw time on MTV.

Other standout performances from the night were Joe Scudda’s “Trunk Rattle.”

Joe Scudda has a great stage presence, delivery, his confidence really comes out in live performances.  I can’t wait to hear the album he’s working on with Statik Selektah!

Emilio Rojas performed “Bold & Arrogant.”

His upcoming mixtape, The Natural, with DJ Green Lantern is something to keep an eye out for.

Donny Goines performed “Bring It Forward.”

If you haven’t downloaded The Breakfast Club yet, I suggest you jump on that.

Bekay performed “I Am,” produced by The Alchemist.

That’s a dope track about hip hop.

Cormega performed “Journey,” produced by the Large Professor.

That opening line is sick, “Life is a journey/Before I went the rap route/I served niggas off the bench like Stackhouse/Going in with no intention to back down/My cocaine flow solidified/I spit crack now.”

My favorite performance of the night was Skyzoo’s “The Beautiful Decay.”

I like how Skyzoo started off performing Nas’ “The World Is Yours,” which he said inspired “The Beautiful Decay.”

Statik Selektah also blessed us with a first listen of his upcoming album’s radio record, “So Close, So Far,” featuring Bun B, Wale, and Colin Munroe.

Bun B, Colin Munroe, and Wale is one sick line up!

Sha Stimuli closed out the night.

If all of CMJ has as much talent as last night, my camera is in for a workout!

Before leaving Santos, we asked Jon Hope to speak on the origin of his name.  To much surprise, Young Jeezy had some major influence!

I didn’t realize Jon Hope had so much meaning behind his name, but it’s definitely a good thing he doesn’t call himself Jeezy anymore!

Big shout out to Statik Selektah, Brandon of Show Off Marketing, Matt of Coalmine Records, and everybody who came through or showed love!

Needless to say, if you weren’t at 92Y Tribeca last night, you missed something special.

The event was part of a series of concerts taking place across the United States, which feature artists deemed “leaders” based off of the buzz they’ve created around themselves and their music.

Starting off the night was Sean Falyon, who currently resides in Atlanta by way of Philly.  The graphic designer turned emcee performed a great set, and although half of my footage from the night is lost due to camera problems, I managed to save Sean’s performance.

Check out Sean Falyon’s “Big City Lights.”

The official video for “Big City Lights” was directed by Motion Family, who also brought us Pill’s “Trap Goin Ham,” arguably the best video of the year.  If you wanna check out more of Sean’s set, here are clips of him performing “Gift of Gab,” and his latest single, “Inside Her.”

Following Sean were energy filled performances from Stalley, Monica Rush, Ms Brown, Spree Wilson, and Harlem’s Cash.  Even though my footage of these artists tearing it up is lost, trust me when I say that they all made the event worthwhile.

The stand out performance of the night, however, belongs to Spree Wilson, who at several points put down the mic to jam out on his electric guitar in the crowd!

How many hip hop artists lay in the middle of the crowd while wailing on a guitar in the middle of their set?  Photo via @JacquesMorels.  If you are unfamiliar with Spree’s music, check out his videos for “Word” and “I Am.”  Spree is ridiculously talented!

Closing out the night was the Grey Goose Rising Icon, and GFCNY’s own, Stalley.  The Ohio bred emcee put on a great show for a crowd that had grown in size throughout the night, and were slowly gravitating toward the stage.  My favorite moment of Stalley’s set was seeing Jesse Boykins III join him to perform “Stay.”

In lieu of a video, download Stalley’s latest mixtape, Mad Stalley: The Autobiography.

Stalley is an artist you will definitely want to keep an eye on.

The next “Leaders of the New Cool” show will be in LA on October 28th.  Hit up @SunshineDBaby for details.  Supporting these events, which create awareness around talented emerging hip hop artists, is essential in strengthening the hip hop community as a whole.

Big shout out to Hollywood East Ent, @SunshineDBaby, @JacquesMorels, and everyone involved in putting together such a great concert!